Under The Same Roof
by peridot moonlight
Summary: They were high school sweethearts turned husband and wife. They thought they had forever, but forever wasn't quite as long as they had envisioned. The last thing neither one of them expected to happen was that they'd be living again under the same roof during the middle of their divorce. Things are about to get messy. *Rated T for now*
1. A New Family Dynamic

Chapter 1: A New Family Dynamic

She's sitting on her porch swing with a blanket draped over her lap, while a cool autumn breeze gently blows her long hair from side to side. The porch lights are on and the sky is quickly turning into night. And like the good southern girl she is, she's sitting out on this porch drinking a fresh cold glass of sweet tea – even if summer had long been over. She tugs at a piece of her dark blonde curls, inspecting the ends and frowns. She's long overdue for a haircut. It's gotten too long, the ends are dry, and lately it's been a ratty mess that's prone to tangles. She's also been meaning to dye it lighter. She's sick of the color and misses her natural, lighter tresses. She's been telling herself to go see her hairstylist for weeks now, but it's kind of hard these days to find time for yourself when you're busy raising a kid. Not that it's a new development for her, after all she's been a mom for a little over a decade now, but it's even harder now that she's doing this as a single-parent.

Not to say that he isn't present. He's a good father. He always has been. He's there for his little girl and he always keeps his promises and engagements. But still their daughter lives with her full-time, and so naturally she's the one carrying most of the parenting weight around, while he only gets Sawyer every other weekend and some holidays. Though sometimes he'll call her up and ask if he can come over to see Sawyer even when it's not his turn, and she doesn't deny him the request. In fact she's grateful that he makes the effort to remain an integral part of his daughter's life. She's well aware of the fact that there are plenty of single mothers out there that aren't that lucky.

Not that he deserves praise, or an award, or anything really for taking an active role in his child's life. It's his job as a father. It's what he's _supposed_ to do, but she's grateful nonetheless.

Things have been good between them lately. For the past few months they've been getting along. They're not fighting anymore, but that probably has more to do with the fact that they don't talk about _it_ anymore. They don't bring up what went down a little over a year ago. They don't talk about how it destroyed their marriage because frankly there is nothing else left to say.

They had said it all.

They rarely discuss the divorce that they're smack in the middle of right now. They've left that up to their lawyers to handle. It's just easier that way.

The only thing they do talk about is Sawyer. It's neutral ground for them. It is a safe topic of discussion for them. And Sawyer really was the only reason she still maintained a relationship with her soon-to-be ex-husband. If it wasn't for the fact that they shared a kid she would have cut him off completely. In fact she had done just that during the first few months of their separation after she had kicked him out of the house. She was devastated and angry, and never wanted to see his stupid lying face again. If he was coming to see their daughter then she would drop Sawyer off at Nathan and Haley's place for him to pick her up.

He was forbidden from stepping foot anywhere near the home they had shared for over ten years, at least that's the message that Nathan had relayed to him. Not that he listened, he would randomly show up at the house while Sawyer was at school, when he knew she'd be home still getting ready for work. And of course they'd get into these loud screaming matches filled with hurtful tears, angry tears, and harsh accusations. And that always ended with a lot of apologies on his part that she really didn't care to hear. He suggested marriage counseling plenty of times and she would simply laugh in his face letting him know that there was no therapist in the world that could trick her into forgiving him. They were done as far as she was concerned. Though it wouldn't be until months later when he did finally resign to their situation and stopped trying to win her back.

Anyway, this went on for months until eventually she noticed the effect all this was having on her little girl. Sawyer became sullen and distant – which was highly unusual for the happy-go-lucky kid that she was. She had cried many tears not being able to understand why her parents were no longer together. Sometimes she barely ate. And seeing Sawyer hurting broke her heart to pieces – even more so than he already had. So she decided to suck it up and improve her relationship with her estranged husband. It was the right thing to do. She wanted to do right by her daughter. So little by little she started letting him come by the house more to see Sawyer. It was extremely awkward at first, but as the months rolled by it became more bearable. Her current relationship with Lucas wasn't perfect, but it was working. They weren't at each other's throats anymore and that's all that mattered. Sawyer was in a much better place than she had been a year ago now that her parents were getting along for her sake. They exchanged short polite conversations and communicated more directly, unlike before where most messages were passed along between Nathan and Haley – though not through Quinn of course because she refused to have anything to do with Lucas after what he did to Peyton.

If there was anyone who had more of a strong distaste for Lucas than Peyton did in the beginning, it was Quinn. A year later and she was still barely acknowledging his presence whenever she had the misfortune of being stuck in the same room as him – and that usually only happened when she was visiting her sister and brother-in-law. Nathan couldn't exactly cut his own brother out of his life, but words had been shared, punches almost thrown, and their relationship had been strained for a while. As for Haley, she was heartbroken over her best friend's betrayal. She could hardly believe what had happened. This was Lucas after all. He was supposed to be one of the good guys. He was supposed to love his wife until the end of time. It just didn't make any sense. Haley was angry and disappointed and boy did she let Lucas have it, but she was also his best friend. She was still there for him too. She was his shoulder to cry on even though she absolutely hated what he did.

The blonde took another sip of her sweet tea before setting it down and flipping through a magazine, enjoying the time she had to herself before Sawyer came home. Twenty minutes later she hears the familiar honk of his car and she looks up from her magazine and tosses it aside.

Peyton watched Sawyer and Lucas exit his car and approach the house.

"Mom!" Sawyer Scott quickly bounces over the pavement and up the porch steps to greet her mother. It had been Lucas' weekend so the eleven year old had spent the last three days with her father at his place.

"Hi sweetie." Peyton stood up as her daughter went straight for a hug. "I missed you." She whispered in her ear. "You had fun with dad?" She asked after the hug ended, acknowledging Lucas' presence for the first time with a nod of the head.

"Yup!" Sawyer responded enthusiastically. She's been a daddy's girl from the day she was born. The young blonde loves hanging out with her dad.

"How was the game?" Peyton asked noticing Sawyer and Lucas in their matching Tar Heels tees and caps. Lucas had mentioned to her that he was taking Sawyer and Jamie today to a basketball game at his alma mater, UNC. She had to admit that they looked pretty cute dressed the same. The mom in her was dying to take a picture.

"So cool! They won!" Sawyer replies excitedly. Both Sawyer and Lucas are grinning happily from the win.

"Nice." Peyton smiles. "You guys look really cute. Let me take a picture." She announces pulling out her phone. Lucas and Sawyer pose for her and she snaps a few shots. Peyton reviews the pictures. "I'll text them to you." She tells Lucas looking his way.

"Thanks." He replies.

"Are you coming in?" She questions. Sometimes he'll hang around for a bit with Sawyer before saying goodbye.

Lucas shakes his head. "I can't. I've gotta get Jamie back home before Hales sends a search party out for him." He jokes nodding over to the front seat of his car, where a fifteen year old Jamie Scott is busy playing with his phone.

Peyton waves over to her nephew. "James Lucas Scott is this how you greet your beloved cool aunt?!"

Jamie turns his head from his seat and smiles over at Peyton. "Hi Aunt Peyton!" He greets her before going back to his phone.

Peyton pouted. Jamie wasn't usually so short with her.

"He's texting the girlfriend." Lucas explained noticing her expression. "Haley let him have his phone today since we went to the game. He hasn't had it for two weeks so naturally he's been on it non-stop today. He barely watched the damn game." Lucas complained.

Peyton laughed. "He's _still_ grounded?"

"Yup. The only reason she let him come to the game was because I bought the tickets months ago – well that and Nathan managed to sweet talk her into it. I was under strict orders to have him back home as soon as we're back in town." He grins because clearly he ignored the rules and brought Sawyer home first.

Peyton shook her head. She knew Haley James Scott did not mess around. She was going to be pissed.

"Hey Aunt Peyton!"

Peyton looked back over at Lucas' car when Jamie had called her. "What's up buddy?"

"Are you still helping me next weekend with that art project for school?"

"Yea babe, come by Saturday afternoon around two. Sawyer and I should be back from her soccer practice by then."

Jamie nodded and went back to his texting.

Lucas snorted. "Soccer." He muttered disapprovingly. "I can't believe my own flesh and blood would rather kick around a ball in some boring field than dominate a basketball court. You're a Scott, it's in your genes to pick up a basketball." He said dramatically. He couldn't understand why his kid would want to play any sport other than basketball. She was pretty good at it. Not to mention the kid was going to be tall like both her parents – which was a great advantage for being a basketball player. She was already growing like a weed.

Sawyer giggled and shrugged. "I like soccer daddy. It's fun." She loved basketball too, but had decided to join a soccer league this year with her best friends just to try it out. Lucas nearly had a heart attack when he found out – well not really, but he jokingly asked his kid if she was trying to kill him with the news.

"You know what they call people like you Sawyer? Traitors." Lucas teased and sent her a wink.

Both Peyton and Sawyer chuckled, each sporting cheeky smiles.

Sawyer sighed loudly and shook her head at her father's antics. He was being silly as usually.

"Alright kid, I think it's time to head on in and start getting your stuff ready for school tomorrow. It's almost bedtime." Peyton announced when the laughter had died down.

Sawyer groaned disapprovingly. The weekend was over and tomorrow was the start of a new week. She wasn't a fan of Mondays, but then again who was?

"Yes poor you, such a hard life." Peyton mocked before delivering a light playful kick to her kid's butt making Sawyer's frown disappear. "Say bye to your dad."

Lucas leaned over to hug Sawyer. "Bye monkey I love you. I had fun today. I'll see you soon."

"Love you too dad." Sawyer replied and gave her father a kiss on the cheek before pulling away.

"I'll be inside in a minute." Peyton told her as Sawyer grabbed her backpack off the porch and made her way towards the front door of the house.

"Scram traitor." Lucas teased waving her away as his daughter scoffed up at him and entered the house.

"Everything went okay this weekend then?" Peyton questioned.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah she was great. She seems happier and back to her old self again."

"Good. That's all I want."

"Me too." Lucas said quietly.

"Oh remember that next week is that spelling bee thing at school. You're still coming right?"

He nodded again. "I remember. I'll be there."

"Ok perfect. We'll see you then."

Lucas took in a deep breath. "Um Peyton?" He called out just as she was turning to head inside the house.

Peyton paused returning his gaze.

"There's something important that I kind of need to talk to you about." He had been putting off this talk for some time now, afraid of her reaction. She wasn't going to be happy with him – not that it would be such a drastic change in mood for her when it came to him. He knew that Peyton simply only tolerated him for Sawyer's sake. "I do still need to drop off Jamie though. I was wondering if I could stop by later tonight after Sawyer's in bed so we can talk."

Peyton raised an eyebrow. "Is it serious? Should I be worried?" She said concerned.

"I really don't wanna get into it right now. Is it fine if I stop by later?"

Peyton slowly nodded. "Fine." She sighed. "Text me when you're on your way." Lucas nodded and she watched him leave her front porch and drive away without another word.

This talk suddenly had her worried. The fact that Lucas wouldn't even disclose the topic of conversation beforehand was enough of a red flag for her.

* * *

"Hey kiddio." Fifteen minutes later Peyton had gone into Sawyer's room to check up on her. She found her already dressed in her PJs, stuffing some books into her school backpack.

"You all set here?"

Sawyer nodded but was oddly silent.

"Hey what's wrong?" Peyton asked noticing her daughter's change in demeanor.

Sawyer zipped up her bag and set it down. She shrugged at her mother. "You could have came with us to the game you know. Daddy would have gotten you a ticket."

"It was dad's weekend with you. It's important that you guys spend time together without me. I don't want to intrude on that." It was a white lie of course. Even if Lucas had invited her to the game there was no way in hell she would have gone. It was one thing to see him in-between pickups and drop offs with Sawyer, but spending an entire afternoon with the man she thought she'd be spending the rest of her life with was just too hard.

"We never do anything together as a family anymore." Sawyer said glumly. Peyton could see the way her daughter's eyes glossed over as she held back her tears.

It broke her heart to see her like this every single time.

"Hey come over here." Peyton led Sawyer to her twin bed, where they both sat down. She put an arm around her teary kid, pulling her close. "I know how hard it's been for you to see me and daddy not together anymore. It's been really hard for me too. It's not easy for me either, but I'm proud of you sweetie. You've been a trooper through all of this. You've been really brave even though I know it hurts."

"I don't want you guys to get a divorce." Sawyer said quietly.

Peyton sighed. "People grow apart sweetie. That's what happened to me and your dad. We can't stay together if we're not happy. That wouldn't be fair to anyone. Can you try to understand that?"

"You're not sad anymore that you aren't together?" Sawyer asked through a sniffle.

"Sometimes." Peyton answered honestly. Sometimes she did find herself wishing they could have worked things out, but it would have never worked. She would have never been able to trust him again. "But I'm doing better now."

Sawyer slowly nodded. "You smile more now." She pointed out. "You used to cry a lot. I know you thought I didn't I know, but I heard you sometimes." The eleven year old revealed.

Peyton's face fell. "Oh I'm so sorry baby." She ran a hand through Sawyer's hair to comfort her.

Sawyer shrugged. "It's okay. Daddy made you sad, but you're not sad anymore, so…so I guess I'm glad you're not sad anymore mom. It's just that sometimes I wish the three of us could do stuff together like before, that's all."

Peyton nodded in understanding, her own tears now threatening to fall. She hated this. She hated all of this. It wasn't fair that her kid had to go through this. "I think we just need a little more time to adjust to things." At least Peyton did. She just wasn't ready to take that step yet. "But we'll get there one day." She knew it would be hard, but she had to try for her daughter.

"You promise?" Sawyer looked up at her mother with her giant blue eyes. Some tears had already fallen across her face.

Peyton looked down at her daughter. She was the splitting image of her father. She had his blue eyes, his mouth, his chin and even the same nose that slightly pointed up at the tip. Her hair was the same shade of blonde as Lucas' too. Sawyer had ended up with her mother's curly hair, though they were much looser curls - really more wavy than curly, unlike the tighter ringlets Peyton had when she was young – no doubt a combined result of Lucas' straight hair with Peyton's curls. And even though Sawyer looked mostly like her father, many of her personality traits was all Peyton. She was short-tempered at times, sassy, and sarcastic. She even had some of the same mannerism as her mother – there wasn't another eleven year old out there that was able to master the eye-roll quite as well as Sawyer Scott did. Her mother had taught her well.

"I promise." She placed a kiss on Sawyer's forehead. "You know Sawyer just because things didn't work out between me and dad, it doesn't make us any less of a family. You, dad and I will always be a family. We're gonna be a part of each other's lives forever. Dad and I will always have your back. And so will Aunt Haley, Uncle Nathan, Jamie and Aunt Quinn. We're your family." She playfully poked Sawyer at her sides. "You're stuck with us for life dude."

Sawyer giggled shoving her mother's finger away. "Okay, okay!" She shrieked as her mother's pokes persisted. She's an extremely ticklish child.

"I love you ladybug." Peyton reached out wiping Sawyer's face clean from her lingering tears and then hugged her tightly. "Everything's gonna be okay. I promise."

"I love you too mom." Sawyer mumbled underneath her mother's tight embrace. When they broke apart, she looked up at Peyton. Copying her mother's actions she wiped away the stray tear sitting on Peyton's cheek.

Peyton smiled lovingly at her daughter. She took a deep breath. "Hey how about some hot chocolate before bedtime?" She suggested wanting to lighten the mood.

Sawyer nodded eagerly. "With extra marshmallows." She requested.

"You got it kid."

* * *

So I've had this story brewing in my head for quite some time now and for some reason I just couldn't put it on the back burner. It needed to be written now! That being said (just a fair warning) updates for this story won't be super frequent as I still have my other OTH story 'Strangers in the Night' (check it out if you haven't already!) and that's pretty much my baby and main focus right now. So be patient with me on this one guys!

Besides Lucas & Peyton, other featured characters in this story will be Sawyer, Nathan, Haley & Quinn. They'll be supporting characters. I'll give a little more background on everyone in the next chapter.

Let know what ya'll think! I'm super excited about this one!


	2. Told You, I'm Always Right

Reviews

 **Mia** \- Wish I could give that piece of info away, but I gotta keep you guys guessing a little longer! You'll understand what's the deal with Brooke soon enough.

 **RoseK124** \- I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. I'm so excited to have you guys reading this!

 **S. Jamedra** \- So happy you like where this story is going! The cause behind Leyton's divorce will be touched upon in the next chapter.

 **A** \- Oh thank you so much! You are very sweet and I truly appreciate your kind words.

 **Tpassions** \- Oh man so many questions and I can't answer them all without giving the story away, but please keep reading to find out!

 **Anne** \- What is your take on how this all started?! Please share, I love reading everyone's take and predictions on this!

 **lovely35** \- And thank you for reading!

 **thibbs65** \- Thanks, glad you like it!

 **Kb** \- Aww and I'm super thankful there's people like you still reading Leyton stories! We need each other.

 **jordana60** \- I'm so excited you're here as well. I always look forward to your reviews. Thank you for your endless support.

 **Guest** \- I so love that you love 'Strangers' and I'm even more thankful that you've decided to give this story a shot! Thank you.

 **Guest** \- I don't want to give out any spoilers, so please keep reading!

 **Guest** \- It will become clear why Brooke isn't a main character, however she will make an appearance or two.

 **Guest** \- Yay another loyal reader from my Strangers fic! Thanks so much for coming to check this out!

* * *

Hi everyone! I just wanted to say thank you for all the amazing feedback I've received for this story so far. Sounds like people are definitely interested and that means I will keep on writing!

There's not a lot of exciting stuff going on in this chapter. This chapter is background on how Leyton got together as teens. I kind of needed to get this out of the way in order to set up the rest of the story.

Things you should know: Lucas, Peyton and Quinn are the same age. Quinn & Peyton have been best friends since diapers. Lucas and Haley are still besties. Nathan and Haley are two years younger. Lucas and Nathan are still half siblings, but being that their two years apart there's no big basketball rivalry between them. Lucas and Peyton's personalities are different in this. Lucas isn't very broody and he's much more confident than we're used to. As for Peyton, she's not adopted - Larry and Anna are very much alive -so she's not tortured, broody or insecure. Haley, Nathan & Quinn's personalities remain intact, no changes there.

As for Brooke, I know many of you guys have been asking what's the deal with her and if she played a role in Leyton's divorce. I'm not going to give anything away, but I am enjoying reading everyone's take on it. Brooke won't be a main character in this story, but there will be sprinkles of her every now and then. You'll get a small clue about what role she plays in the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 2: Told You, I'm Always Right

Even after all these years, both of them could still remember clearly the day of their first real interaction. They were fifteen and in their second year of high school. He was a player on the basketball team and she was a member of the cheerleading squad. There had been practice held for both the team and the squad that day, so while the basketball players ran the court, the cheerleaders were off to the side going over choreography for the next game. After practice the rest of the team had retreated to the locker room, but he had stayed behind. He messed around the court a little, while he waited for the cheerleaders to finish up their practice. When the girls started packing up their things, he kept waiting hoping to catch her alone – though of course she was oblivious to it at the time. After the rest of the squad had departed she was still there talking and laughing with her best friend Quinn James, while he continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye. She hadn't even noticed that he was still in the gym shooting around. A few minutes later her best friend left the gym, leaving her alone. He dropped the ball in his hands and jogged his way over to her. She was too busy digging into her bag searching for her ipod that she hadn't noticed him approaching. He greeted her and she looked up from her bag, a look of confusion appearing on her face. They never really spoke much to each other so she found it odd.

She knew who Lucas Scott was, of course she did. It was a small town where all the kids went to the same schools and hung out at all the same spots. Growing up she had also seen him sometimes hanging at the James' household, though they didn't speak or interact much. He was best friends with her best friend's younger sister, which she found a bit peculiar considering Haley James was two years younger than them, but then again Haley had always been far more mature than all of them combined.

She also knew that his mother owned that café down on Main Street and he was the older half-brother of Nathan Scott. Their father had dated Lucas' mother first, got her pregnant and then left her high and dry. During freshman year of college Dan Scott had met Nathan's mother and they had Nathan two years later, only this time Dan actually stuck around and married the woman. Dan moved back to Tree Hill with his new family right after Nathan was born. It was a small town and everyone talked. Everyone knew the story. Though while the rest of the town was busy making judgments, she never really cared either way. She had her own opinions of Lucas Scott and it had nothing to do with his family drama.

It was no big secret that he'd had a thing for her since middle school. She remembered being in eighth grade and giggling about it with her girlfriends after school. He was cute even back then and she had been flattered at first, but if she was completely honest he had always rubbed her the wrong way. He was obnoxiously smart, always offering up the correct answers in class and showing off in the way that made most people roll their eyes and groan. It was even worse when he was trying to make a point or prove someone wrong. He was stubborn and always went out of his way to make sure he was right in the end. It wasn't exactly an attractive feature. He was also a bit full of himself – a little too confident, a little too cocky, and a little too competitive – especially when it came to girls, books and basketball. He was good at basketball, most girls in their school had a thing for him and he wasn't your typical dumb jock. He'd received an even bigger ego boost this school year, when he became the youngest player in the school to ever make varsity on the Ravens. Because of all this he was pretty popular at school, though surprisingly he wasn't some kind of man-whore at school. He ate up the attention he received from girls and was a big flirt, but as far as Peyton had heard he didn't actually date much.

Even with all those annoying qualities, they weren't the main reason behind her dislike for the boy. Frankly she just found Lucas to be plain ol' creepy. He had a knack for just standing and staring at her in particular. Though his crush on her was well known and he wasn't exactly shy with other girls, Lucas had never actually asked her out. He just stared at her and it freaked Peyton out to no end. He'd been ogling her since they were thirteen like some kind of pervert, and it was creepy and inappropriate, however the rest of the girls in her class didn't see it that way. Some were even jealous, which made Peyton snort in disbelief. Quinn on the other hand thought it was kind of hilarious and teased her about it constantly. Being that Lucas was her little sister's best friend and around the house a lot, she never really did have a problem with Lucas. She claimed that despite his annoying egocentric qualities, he was still an all-around nice guy. Peyton didn't care, even though she already knew that the boy was completely harmless, it still didn't excuse his staring. She wasn't a piece of meat.

Anyway, despite their long history of close contact during school and outside of it, they rarely exchanged words directly. And even though Peyton was just as popular as he was in school, their tight knit circle of friends differed, which was fine by her. She kept her distance, as did he – a sort of unspoken agreement between the two.

Or at least it had been up until he decided to approach her after practice that day.

He was grinning down at her when she looked up from her bag, practically smirking, like if that was supposed to have some charming effect on her like it did on all the other dumb girls at their school.

"What do you want?" She grumbled at him disapprovingly. They never talked, so why was he all of a sudden bothering her now?

Lucas continued grinning, apparently unfazed by the comment and the tone it was delivered in. "Nice legs."

Her eyes immediately narrowed at him angrily. "Excuse you?" The blonde spat out offended.

"You have nice legs." He clarified still sporting that stupid cheeky grin on his face.

Peyton scoffed.

What. A. Creep.

She was wearing one of her tiny blue cheer shorts to practice today, but that didn't give him the right to comment on her legs.

"I'm pretty sure this is the part where you say something nice about me now." Lucas stated. He could tell she was already pissed and couldn't resist the urge to push her buttons just a little. She was a tough cookie. He knew ahead of time that talking to her wasn't exactly going to go smoothly. He knew Peyton wasn't his biggest fan, which was a damn shame because he practically worshipped her from afar, but she had never given him the time of day.

If he thought Peyton was about to toss a compliment his way, he was sadly mistaken. She couldn't believe the nerve on this kid. Sure he was good looking, but she wasn't about to let him know that she thought so. Lucas had always been a looker, though this year had been particularly kind to him. The summer in-between freshman and sophomore year had transformed him. He came back to school even taller than before and he had filled out too. He wasn't this scrawny thing anymore and had been clearly hitting the gym during those hot months because his body was more defined and muscular. His face had changed too, gone was that adorable cute baby face and it was replaced by a more handsome face. His appearance was maturing and yeah even Peyton had to admit that he wasn't just cute anymore, he was pretty hot now. Unfortunately for him she just couldn't stand his smug ass.

"You're disgusting." She informed him and rolled her eyes. "Goodbye." She dismissed him and secured the strap of her bag over her shoulder before turning to leave.

"Hey wait up Peyton, c'mon don't be like that." Lucas quickly clasped a hand over her shoulder and spun her around back to him, desperate for her attention. This was the longest they had ever spoken before.

She blew out a breath of annoyance and slapped his hand off her shoulder. "Back off dude."

He just laughed at her of course.

The jerk.

Peyton opened her mouth to berate him once more, but then his lips had appeared over hers, interrupting her speech. He had grabbed her face unexpectedly and pulled it to his before she had time to react. Her palms pushed back hard against his chest as she shoved him off. He hadn't been that all surprised when she had pushed him off. Though he most certainly hadn't been expecting the hard slap that followed after. Lucas looked at her with an astonished expression, mouth hanging open as he rubbed the side of his stricken cheek.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Peyton yelled out loudly, her eyes wide in shock as she threw her hands in the air at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She wiped the taste of his lips off hers with the back of her hand. She had decided right there and then that she hated him. She really did.

Lucas quickly brushed off his initial shock from the slap, appearing unfazed once more. His lips curved up and he was grinning at her yet again. If that wasn't irritating enough he began to chuckle and Peyton was tempted to slap him again. This wasn't supposed to be funny. He couldn't just go around kissing whatever girl he felt like and think he could just get away with it. He sure did have some balls on him.

"I like you Peyton." He told her finally.

Peyton huffed. She didn't like where this was going.

"I wanna be your boyfriend. Let me take you out on a date."

Now it was her turn to laugh. "I'm not going out with you." She stated incredulously.

"Why not?" He said in a pout.

"Why not?!" The blonde shook her head in disbelief. "Listen, Lucas remember when you would just creep at me from afar and I'd just completely ignore you? That was a good thing we had going on there and now you're ruining it. So just…don't. Let's stick to the status quo shall we?"

"You're going to go out on a date with me." Lucas replied confidently in that smug tone she absolutely detested.

"I will never date you, as in never ever, so you can forget about it."

"Yes you will." He said stubbornly. "And I'm always right."

"Well not about this you aren't." She sent him a glare. "Just stay away from me Lucas. I'm not interested." She couldn't really comprehend this obsession he had with her. There were plenty of other girls at school just throwing themselves at him. Why couldn't he just pick one of them?

"You will be!" Lucas called at to Peyton as she made her way out of the gym.

"No I won't!" She called back as she walked away, not bothering to turn around. She already knew he was probably already staring at her backside. He really was a jerk.

"Yes you will." Lucas spoke out even though she was already long gone.

* * *

Unfortunately for Peyton that wouldn't be her last encounter with Lucas. After that day he kept trying to corner her on several occasions. She usually managed to dodge his efforts, but there had been a couple of times where he had caught her by surprise – either way she continued to brush off his offers to take her out on a date. He had also started sitting next to her during the classes they shared and he wasn't exactly subtle about the looks he gave her. It had the whole student body gossiping up a storm, especially since he was still flirting with other girls too.

She really did hate him now.

A month into his persistent chase of Peyton and even Lucas had to admit that he was getting nowhere. He hadn't been able to crack her down, not even a little bit. It was clear that he needed some assistance and he knew exactly the person to turn to. He had strolled into the James residence one afternoon and headed up to the room inhabited by the one person who knew Peyton Sawyer the best.

He found Quinn James sitting on her bed as she flipped through a magazine. "I was wondering when your sorry ass would find its way here." She stated not bothering to look up from her magazine. "Took you long enough." She mused. Quinn didn't have to guess why Lucas was here. She knew why. It wasn't exactly a mystery.

Lucas plopped down on her bed. Since Lucas was best friends with Haley and came around the house often, for years now, he and Quinn were close enough that he could just pop into her room uninvited. "I'm desperate. Please take pity on me. Convince your friend to get off her high horse and go out with me already." He was growing increasingly frustrated at Peyton's constant rejections.

Quinn laughed. "Peyton would kill me for even entertaining the idea of setting you two up. I think I'll pass. She's scary when she's angry."

"Don't I know it." Lucas mumbled agreeing with his best friend's sister. "Oh c'mon Quinny." Lucas playfully poked her side. "How long have we known each other?"

"Not as long as I've known Peyton." She replied deadpanned.

"But long enough…" He pressed. "And plus, you said it once yourself that you thought me and Peyton would make a good couple."

Quinn sighed. "She's really not interested Luke."

"Yea, yea, she hates my guts, I got the memo." Lucas said dismissively. "But surely someone as charming and talented as yourself can help me turn that around, right?" He looked at her adoringly with those blue eyes of his and smiled brightly, his white teeth on display.

"Laying it on pretty thick there aren't we?" Quinn teased.

"Who me?" He said while pointing at himself innocently.

"You're good I'll give you that."

"So does that mean you'll hook me up?"

"I don't know Lucas…convincing Peyton to do something she doesn't want to do isn't exactly easy. Plus you made shit harder on yourself when you decided it was a good idea to go on and kiss her. That was a poor move on your part my friend."

Lucas shrugged. "I wanted to kiss her, so I did it. No regrets here." He said with a grin.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "And it's that attitude right there that has you stuck in this predicament. Peyton's never gonna date you. I'm sorry."

"We'll see." Lucas said with a smile. "Are you gonna help me or not? C'mon Quinn you know how much I really like her. I wouldn't be wasting my time otherwise."

Quinn paused to consider. She knew Lucas was sincere in his feelings for her best friend, but it was still gonna take a miracle to get Peyton interested. If Peyton could just get past the layer of arrogance that Lucas carried, she'd see that he was actually a pretty good guy. "I'm in." She said finally. "Damn she's gonna be pissed." Quinn muttered as she thought of her curly haired friend.

"Awesome. I owe you big time."

"Naturally."

"So what do I need to do then?"

"Well first off, how about we tone down the overconfidence? There is a thing as too much of it and it's not attractive." She stated frankly.

Lucas made a face. Clearly that wasn't going to be easy. "I'll try." He offered.

"Second, stop flirting with other girls."

"Done." Lucas replied without skipping a beat. It wasn't like he was interested in any other girls anyway. He just flirted back with girls for the heck of it.

"Third, grow out your hair."

"Huh? What's wrong with my hair?" He inquired as he ran a hand over his newly buzzed hair. He had decided on a new look this year.

"Just grow it out an inch or two. Peyton has a thing for running her fingers through a guy's hair. It's a telltale sign of hers that's she interested. Trust me, if she's thinking about running her fingers through your hair then you've already won half the battle." The brunette explained and winked.

"Jesus." Lucas muttered. He didn't think Quinn was going to be this thorough. "Okay, what else?"

"Well…"

In addition to other adjustments she suggested that he make, Quinn had given him a long list of music that Peyton was currently into. He already owned more than half of the albums on the list so at least musically they seemed to be in sync. She also told him little facts here and there about Peyton, like how her favorite color was red, how she was obsessed with all things peanut butter, how she loved classic horror movies, hated anything with coconut in it, and was recently really into scented candles.

* * *

Now that Lucas had recruited Quinn for help, it was a hell of a lot easier to insert himself into Peyton's life. When Peyton and her friends would plan to get together, Quinn let him know when and where. Then he'd 'randomly' show up and Quinn would invite him to join them much to Peyton's dismay. Since Quinn and Lucas were actually friends it didn't seem out of the ordinary that she would ask him to join, but even Peyton started to get suspicious after Lucas started 'coincidently' showing up everywhere she and her friends went more than a few times. But by then it was too late, Lucas had managed to successfully infiltrate himself into their group. He had charmed all of her friends and Quinn didn't even have to tip him off anymore about their whereabouts. All their friends kept him in the loop, including him in group emails and texts about their plans – he had become one of them, even though Peyton knew he had his own group of friends. Sometimes he'd bring Haley along with him, other times it was his friends from the river court, and sometimes some guys from the team too. Their two worlds were merging out of nowhere and Peyton was anything but happy about it. She tried to ignore him as best as she could, but it was fruitless. He always managed to be sitting next to her somehow and was always coming on to her. He even had poor Haley putting in a good word for him. When she complained to Quinn about Lucas hanging around all the time now, her best friend only shrugged and simply told her to get over it because everyone seemed to love Lucas but her, and it didn't seem like he was going anywhere.

Peyton didn't talk to her for two whole days after that.

One night Quinn had showed up unannounced at Peyton's house, – though that wasn't unusual in itself, she did it all the time and vice versa – she came barging through her room and demanded that the blonde get dressed because they were going out. When Peyton asked why, Quinn just shrugged and said it was Saturday night, no explanation needed. So Peyton got dressed and they headed into town near the harbor where most of town spent their weekend evenings either shopping at the dozens of little boutiques nearby, or eating and drinking at some of the restaurants and bars the area had to offer. Quinn led the way and Peyton followed her blindly since it was apparent that her friend had already decided what they'd be up to tonight.

However, the last thing she expected was to be taken to a restaurant where she found Lucas and his friend Skills waiting for them. They were both dressed up for once, not wearing basketball shorts and tees. Lucas smiled at Peyton the instant the girls had approached.

"What the hell is this?" Peyton said as she glanced over at the three of them cautiously.

"Told ya you'd go out on a date with me." Lucas quipped in a cheeky grin.

Peyton's eyes widened briefly in realization before narrowing down venomously, her nostrils flaring angrily. She glared down hard at Lucas before shifting her attention to her supposed best friend. The look in Peyton's eyes letting Quinn know just how displeased she was with this dirty trick. Apparently this was a planned double date, with Lucas bringing Skills along to keep Quinn company. "Screw this." The blonde huffed before spinning around and retreating in the direction she came from.

"You idiot!" Quinn scolded. "Now why would you go on and say that!" She left the boys to run after Peyton.

Skills started laughing right next to Lucas. "You just couldn't resist could you?" He drawled out.

Lucas smirked. "I kind of like riling her up. It's so easy and kind of fun, plus she looks sexy when she's angry."

"Skinny girl is never gonna go for you man if you keep this up." Skills advised.

"Yea that's what they keep telling me." Lucas muttered. "She'll come around." He spoke confidently as he watched Quinn yank Peyton off to the side by the arm and watched them bicker. They were far enough that he couldn't hear what was being said.

"Whatever you say dawg." Skills replied unconvinced.

Several minutes later the girls reappeared. Quinn had a hand tightly wrapped around Peyton's arm, tugging her along. "Shall we?" She spoke gesturing to the boys to enter the restaurant as she continued to pull Peyton along.

The dinner hadn't gone smoothly, not that anyone really expected it to. Quinn and Skills were the only ones really keeping up the conversation at the table, as Lucas failed in his attempts to engage the blonde sitting across from him. Peyton of course gave him the silent treatment the entire time and the daggers she was shooting at him from her eyes had Lucas squirming in his seat a bit. When it came time to order their food, Peyton ordered the most expensive thing on the menu already knowing that Lucas was going to pay for her dinner anyway. She played around with the food in her plate, barely eating it and then she bailed right before the bill came.

"Are you ready to give up now?" Quinn questioned Lucas later that night as he walked her home after dinner.

Lucas scoffed at the ludicrous question. "I'm only just beginning Quinny."

* * *

By the time spring rolled around he could tell that Peyton was starting to soften up a bit towards him. He had been hanging out with Peyton and their newly formed group of friends for a few months now.

In addition to him being good-looking, smart, and talented, Lucas was kind of hilarious and fun to be around. And as much as she tried not to, Peyton found herself laughing at his jokes, which of course Lucas took great pride in when she did – the asshole. She wasn't hanging out with him alone or anything, it was always in a group, but she was no longer completely freezing him out. If he engaged her in conversation she would respond – in fact they mostly just bickered really, but it was better than her not talking to him, though sometimes they did have an actual exchange of civil words. Unless he was flirting with her, then that's when she'd go back to ignoring him. He still kept asking her out and she still kept turning him down. Lately they'd been discussing their favorite music artist and songs, though Peyton had a field day when he told her that he hated The Cure. She promptly told Lucas that he was an idiot.

When her birthday rolled around in May, Quinn and Lucas had organized a surprise bash for her at his mother's club Tric and invited all their friends. It had been a pretty great party and she had thanked them both profusely. When Peyton got home later that night, she found a white box with a red ribbon wrapped around it. She recognized the sloppy handwriting on the card attached, knowing the gift was from him. Inside the box was a European import of an album that she'd been trying to track down for months. He had also given her this pretty old looking book. The hardcover was worn and a faded olive green color. The book was titled ' _Love Letters of Great Men'_ and just like the title suggested it was a collection of love letters written by real men throughout history. Inside Lucas had noted and highlighted his favorite passages for her to read. It was probably the most romantic and thoughtful gift anyone had ever given her. She would end up carrying that book around in her bag for months, always pulling it out to read and reread when she had some down time. When she reached back into the box to pull out the last item she couldn't help but laugh.

It was a jar of peanut butter.

The next day at school he walked past her on the lawn, she was sitting on the grass, legs crossed with his book in her hands – it had been his own personal copy he had given her. She looked up at him and mouthed a silent thank you before going back to her book. He sat down next to her pulling out a book from his bag and they read together silently side by side until their next class.

* * *

It was summer now and school was out. Two whole months of freedom before they officially became juniors. It was a summer filled of swimming, summer concerts, outdoor festivals, parties and lots of ice cream to beat the humid North Carolina heat. July 4th was kind of the first big kick off into summer and everyone was down at the pier to watch the fireworks go off. Somewhere along the thick crowds of the night, Lucas and Peyton had gotten separated from the rest of their friends and after fifteen minutes of trying to locate them, Peyton gave up and suggested they head down underneath the pier to watch instead. The fireworks would be going off soon and it was less crowded on the beach. Lucas agreed and they pushed their way through the crowd heading down to the beach.

"This isn't some kind of trick to get me alone is it?" She accused as they walked on the sand. This was the first time they were hanging out alone together.

Lucas chuckled. "No actually, not this time." He really hadn't orchestrated anything tonight to get them alone. Truth was after months of chasing Peyton he was starting to burn out. He had hoped after her birthday things would had changed between them – and they did – they were actually friends now that still bickered occasionally, but nothing romantic had developed. Lucas was starting to give into the notion that maybe they were just meant to be friends.

Peyton raised an eyebrow skeptically.

He laughed again. "Honest to god." He told her in all sincerity raising a hand up.

Peyton nodded believing him. "Look it's starting!" Her face lit up and she grabbed Lucas' arm and dragging him closer towards the water to get a better view. They sat down and watched the fireworks for the next twenty minutes. Lucas turned to her at one point observing the look of pure excitement painted across Peyton's face.

She looked like a little kid with her eyes wide, the colors of the fireworks in the sky reflecting off those green orbs of hers. He thought it was beautiful.

Unable to help himself his hand went to her face, his thumb lightly stroking her cheek. Her eyes danced over to him and she gave him a soft smile. She didn't pull away from his touch, she leaned into it and he took that as his cue to kiss her. He leaned over pressing their lips together innocently and when he felt her kiss him back he applied more pressure. When they pulled apart Peyton chuckled at the goofy grin Lucas was sporting.

"What no slap this time?" He teased her.

Physically she had always found him attractive, but it wasn't after he gave her that book of love letters for her birthday that she really began seeing him differently. Obviously he was still somewhat of a cocky asshole, but behind that he was actually pretty sweet. Peyton smiled at him before admitting that she had been wanting to kiss him for awhile now.

So he kissed her again.

And then again.

The fireworks long forgotten.

His heart soaring the entire time. He finally got what he wanted and was making out with Peyton Sawyer.

When they pulled apart for air they were both still smiling. Peyton ran a hand through his hair. "I like your hair better like this." She commented now that he had grown out his hair.

Lucas silently thanked Quinn as Peyton continued to run her fingers through his short blond locks. "For you I will never cut my hair that short again." He said in a dead serious tone making her laugh. He wasn't joking. He really wouldn't.

She shook her head at him and kissed him again. Lucas was a good kisser, not that she was all that surprised. He was annoyingly good at everything else, so why not?

"Go out with me tomorrow." He mumbled over her swollen kissed lips.

"Okay." She agreed quickly.

"You see…I told you, I'm always right." He quipped after they took another kissing break. He was reminding Peyton of that afternoon in the gym months ago when he informed her that she would eventually go out with him because he was always right.

And that's when she slapped him.

Not too hard like the first time though. It was more playful this time. "You really are an asshole." She mocked at him and rolled her eyes.

And then she grabbed Lucas by the collar of his shirt and kissed him over and over again.

* * *

They were pretty much inseparable after that night. A week after their kiss Lucas informed Peyton that she was his girlfriend now – he didn't even ask her if she wanted to be, according to him it wasn't necessary. Predictably, Peyton mumbled something about him being an ass, but she never did say he was wrong about them being a couple now. When school started up no one really was all that surprised that they were officially dating. He was now the captain of the basketball team and she had become cheer co-captain along with Quinn. It was predictable as it was laughable. They kind of ruled the school, but not in the iron-fist sort of way. They weren't that type of couple. They didn't think they were better than anyone. She wasn't some stuck up head bitch cheerleader, and though Lucas was a little too full of himself, he was still a good guy. He wasn't the kind of jock that went around torturing or making fun of other students.

Actually, the newly formed couple that had taken the student body by surprise hadn't been the two blonds, but it had been Nathan and Haley, both who had entered their freshman year at Tree Hill High. No one had expected the young basketball player to start dating his nerdy tutor. They would end up breaking up and getting back together a couple of times throughout high school, and would also end up shocking the entire student body once more when they got married and pregnant their senior year of high school.

As for Lucas and Peyton they remained strong throughout their junior and senior years. When they graduated high school he went to UNC on a basketball scholarship, where he was a literary studies major. Peyton had decided to go to a small little liberal arts college in Savannah, where she studied art and minored in business and marketing. Four years of long distance had been tough, but the couple weathered through it. They visited each other during long weekends and were attached at the hip during holidays, semester breaks and summer vacations. They made the best of their distance with daily online chats, texts, phone calls and emails. Sometimes when he was feeling particularly romantic, Peyton would find hand written letters from him in her mailbox. And in-between visits when they were really aching for each other, a few naughty phone calls here and there helped them get through those lonely nights. When they did finally reunite and were in bed together, Lucas would always trace his fingers around her bare ring finger and even kiss it sometimes, a silent promise that he was going to marry her one day.

His graduation came first. Peyton drove up from Georgia for the weekend and stayed with Lucas as they celebrated that entire weekend with friends and family. She was still in the middle of finals so she had to drive back down that Sunday, but her graduation was taking place the following weekend so he'd be seeing her soon enough. He was going to drive down there and stay a week after her graduation so they could pack up her stuff and move back to Tree Hill. They had decided to move in together, so once they were back home they would start searching for a cheap place together.

The week before he was driving down to Georgia, Lucas had brought Karen with him to a jewelry shop in downtown Wilmington. He had been looking at engagement rings for a couple of months now and had wanted his mother's opinion on the one he had selected for Peyton. He would have invited Quinn to come along as well, but she wasn't flying back from California – where she had gone off to college – anytime soon. Lucas had been slowly saving up these last four years, picking up odd jobs to get the money.

"What do you think?" Lucas asked as he showed Karen the ring. "Do you think she'll like it? Do you think she'll say yes if I give her this one?" He spoke nervously, his words rushed.

"Sweetheart you could propose to that girl with a ring pop and she'll still say yes." Karen teased. "She loves you."

"I know I just….ugh." Lucas scratched the back of his head. "I just want it to be perfect. She's so perfect mom, so she deserves perfect. I need it to be perfect."

"Then why are you getting her this ring?" Karen spoke bluntly.

Lucas' face dropped. "You don't think she'll like it?" He frowned. "I think it's a pretty nice ring." He added as he closely inspected the ring for the billionth time. He had been at this shop several times now to come look at this ring.

"It's a lovely ring sweetie. It's beautiful and I know Peyton would love it, but it's not exactly _her_ is it? It's not her ring, at least not the one you really want to give her." Karen nodded over the glass counter pointing over to another ring. She had caught her son's eyes glancing over at this particular ring a few times already since they had entered the shop.

Lucas sighed, scratching the back of his head again. "I can't afford that one. It's a little out of my budget." He sheepishly admitted. He knew Peyton would still like the ring he had picked out for her, but the other one would have been the more perfect choice if money wasn't an issue. Sure he could hold off proposing in order to save up some more, but getting the rest of the money together would take forever now that they would be getting an apartment and paying bills together. He didn't want to wait however long that was going to take. He wanted to marry Peyton now.

"I see." Karen spoke. "You know Keith and I were talking, and we decided we'd like to help you out a little. You can get Peyton the other ring and we'll cover the difference."

Lucas quickly shook his head. "I can't ask you guys to do that."

"Why not? We want to and you've worked hard these past few years at school. Consider it a graduation present." Karen offered.

"You guys already got me a graduation gift." He reminded her. Keith had given Lucas his red mustang.

"Well that doesn't really count. That car already belonged to Keith. We didn't actually spend any money besides filling up the tank for you." She teased. "We'd like to help."

"I should be paying for this on my own. I'm the one marrying her not you guys." Lucas told her. "You guys can pay for the wedding though." He said grinning.

Karen laughed. "You're too damn smart for your own good. How about a loan then?" She suggested. "No interest, you can pay us back when you have the money."

Lucas thought about it and then nodded. "Thanks mom." He hugged Karen. "You don't know how much this means to me. I really appreciate."

"Well you said Peyton deserves perfect so let's give her perfect then."

* * *

The week after Peyton's graduation the couple was driving up the coastal highway heading back to their hometown with a small u-haul trailer attached behind the car containing all of Peyton's belongings. Right before they were entering town Lucas took a detour, driving the car until they reached the lake right outside of town. She became visibly excited when she realized where they were heading. It was their spot, their special place, the place they'd come and spend time together alone when they were in high school. They hadn't been here in a long while. When he stopped the car Peyton had jumped out and ordered him to join her. He hadn't said a word and when she turned away from the lake to get his attention she found him on one knee holding a little black box.

He had prepared this long speech with all the right words and feelings he wanted to get across regarding his undying love for the girl with curly blonde hair that had refused to give him a chance for years. But in the end he found that it wasn't necessary. As she looked down at him with tears in her eyes and a wide smile, the only words that came out of his mouth were ' _marry me.'_

She had dropped to the floor and tackled him to the ground instantly. With her arms locked around his neck she kissed him like her life depended on it. Like she couldn't breathe without him. She mumbled her one-worded answer ' _yes'_ over and over again against his lips. Lucas couldn't help but chuckle because she hadn't even bothered looking at the ring yet. The box had slipped from his hands after she had tackled him and was currently laying on the ground somewhere.

God he loved her.

* * *

Okay so I promise the story will move forward in the next chapter. Up next: Lucas is coming over to have his chat with Peyton.

Please tell me what you think! If you have any pressing questions about character backgrounds (be it Leyton, Quinn, Nathan or Haley) let me know! I will be happy to fill you in!

Also if Guest Reviewers could leave some sort of name with their reviews that would be awesome! Just makes it easier to identify who's who.

Until next time.


	3. The Talk, Part 1

Reviews

 **Tpassions** \- So glad you loved the last one! Hope your recovery continues to go smoothly. Keep on guessing, I love hearing where people think this story is going!

 **S. Jamedra** \- Yeah I'm totally having fun writing Lucas and Peyton a little differently. I find it totally refreshing and I hope you guys find it that way as well while reading it.

 **Kb** \- I'm glad you liked reading up on a little Leyton background. I wanted to give you guys a taste of what their personalities are like in this story and I thought that was the best way to do it. Even as I write Lucas in this story for me it's sort of a love/hate relationship over his character. He's gonna be such an ass in this, but overall he's still a good guy who loves his family deeply. It's truly gonna be interesting...

 **jordana60** \- Yes, you all will have a better understanding of what went wrong between these two in the next chapter. I'm happy to hear how excited you are over this story, thank you.

 **trngmy** \- So glad you're loving it so far! Thank you for reading.

 **itsnjm1** \- Yay for you being so excited!

 **LeytonFan4Eva** \- Thanks! Happy to know that you're liking it so far.

 **B** \- Glad you liked the backstory. Thanks for reading.

 **thibbs65** \- Haley and Nathan will be around, don't worry.

 **Guest** \- So happy to hear you are enjoying this new fic as much as 'Strangers'! They're both so different from each other and I wasn't sure how people were going to accept this one.

* * *

Lots of continued support on this fic. Thanks so much guys!

Also I failed to mention this before, but just FYI as far as ages go: Lucas, Peyton & Quinn are 35, while Naley are both 33.

That's it, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 3: The Talk, Part 1

Peyton was back out on the front porch waiting for Lucas to arrive. He had texted her about ten minutes ago to let her know he was on his way back from Haley's. It was a short drive from there so she knew he'd be arriving shortly. Sure enough his car came into view minutes later as he parked right outside of the house.

"Sawyer sleeping?" Lucas asked as he leaned against the banister directly across from Peyton, who was seated on the porch swing.

"Yeah." She replied and tightened the wool blanket wrapped around her frame. As the evening wore on it had become chillier out. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Lucas' cryptic behavior earlier had her worried.

He took in a deep breath. He had been a nervous mess the entire drive over. There was little doubt in Lucas' mind that he was about to make the woman sitting in front of him very upset – maybe even furious. They had been getting along so well too these past few months. It was a real shame he was about to go on and ruin it.

Lucas took in another deep breath. There was no point in beating around the bush. So he opened his mouth and ripped the band aid right off. "Listen we need to talk about…money."

Peyton sent him a puzzled look. She had no idea where Lucas was going with this. "Money?" One of her perfectly shaped eyebrows arched up at him demanding further explanation.

"I need to talk to you about our finances." Lucas clarified.

"Our finances?" She said incredulously. "Lucas what are you talking about?" They currently had no 'shared finances' to speak of. Since they were legally separated every dime that either of them currently earned belonged solely to the earner. Sure they had assets, investments and savings from their time as a married couple, but all that was currently tied up in the divorce and still being sorted out and divided. She wasn't receiving any spousal support either – she didn't need it nor wanted his money. The only money she did received from her estranged husband was child support and that wasn't even court-ordered. Lucas wasn't the type of man to skip out on his child or his responsibilities as a father, so Peyton saw little need to take him to court for monthly payments. Together they continued to share any and all expenses related to their daughter and so far it had been working well. In the past they had fought about a lot of things, but thankfully money had never been one of them.

"Okay my finances." Lucas corrected sighing heavily.

"I don't see how that's any of my business." Peyton spoke coolly.

"I'm broke." He said bluntly. "Or at least close to it."

Her mouth parted in shock. "Wait…what?" Her head shook quickly at him, not really believing his words. "What do you mean you're broke?" She said a little too loudly.

"Do I really need to explain to you the concept of being broke?" He teased.

The blonde immediately scowled. "You know very well that's not what I was asking you asshole." She barked out at him. How could he joke at a time like this? "What happened?!"

"Money's been tight for awhile." He confessed.

"And so what, you decided to wait until you've completely ran out of it before telling me?" She snapped.

"I still have some money…it's not a lot, but as long as I make some adjustments in my budget I should be fine, at least for a little while longer before I do go completely broke."

Peyton closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Of all the things, this was the last thing she had expected for them to be discussing this evening. "What happened?" Her eyes looked over at him in concern. Lucas wasn't irresponsible with money, and yes divorces were an ugly expensive mess, but still she had a hard time believing that Lucas would just fall into this situation. She had managed to keep herself afloat with her earnings from the studio/gallery she owned with Quinn, and in the past Lucas had always earned much more from his novels than she ever did from her business, so it was a little mindboggling to hear how he could suddenly be broke.

He shrugged. "Lawyers aren't cheap…I'm paying both the rent at my place and the mortgage here – "

She stopped him right there. "Which you stubbornly insisted on! When you moved out I told you I would take care of the house payments if I was going to stay here. In fact if I recall correctly, I told you that you could keep the house and I'd find a place of my own for me and Sawyer, but you didn't wanna hear it!"

"When I moved out?! You mean when you kicked me out?" Lucas spat out bitterly.

Her eyes widened in anger and her nostrils flared. "DON'T." She pointed a finger at him in warning. She refused to take the bait. It always led to the same argument, an argument they've had far too many times to count.

Lucas blew out a frustrated breath. He needed to reel it in fast before this all blew up in his face. There was still more he had to tell Peyton. "Like I was saying, my expenses are…stretching me out a little thin these days. I mean normally it wouldn't have been a problem but…" He sighed. "My last book just isn't selling well." He admitted quietly.

Peyton's face softened. She knew what that meant. If the book wasn't selling well then it meant that whatever royalties he was receiving from sales were low. Those royalties were Lucas' main source of income in-between writing his books, and that was in addition to whatever advance the publishing house offered him whenever they green-lit his ideas for a new book. The advances were usually more than enough to get him by while he completed a book, but he had received the advance for his latest book before they were legally separated, so it was currently tied in the divorce and therefore he wasn't allowed to access it. "I'm sorry." She told him softly. She knew firsthand how hard he had worked on that novel, like he did with all his books. All his other published works had sold really well, so she could only imagine what a huge disappointment it must have been for him to find out that this last one wasn't doing so well. A small part of her wanted to comfort her husband, but she suppressed it. That wasn't her job anymore.

Lucas shrugged and said nothing.

"Wait, but what about your latest book pitch? Haley mentioned something months ago that you were getting ready to pitch some ideas for a new book. Surely you got an advance off of that right?" If he had then there was no reasonable explanation for him to be broke.

Lucas looked down and shook his head. He slowly rubbed his temple. "They didn't go for it." He sighed. Within this past year he had pitched idea after idea to his editor and they had all been rejected. Everything he had been writing this past year had been absolute crap and his editor had made sure he knew it. He was stuck in this writing rut and had no idea how to get out of it. Lucas had been counting on that advance to get him by for the time being, and when he didn't get it, not only was it a blow to his ego and capability as a writer, but it had been a crushing blow to his finances as well. He was depending on that money since his latest book had tanked tremendously. Lawyers were expensive as fuck, he was paying for both his apartment and a house he was no longer residing in, and on top of that raising a kid wasn't cheap. Money was disappearing more quickly than he was making it and it was stressing him the fuck out. He had already cut back on his own personal expenses, but it had barely made a dent in the grand scheme of things. The divorce they were in the middle of had the rest of their money tied up, and he wouldn't be seeing a dime of that settlement check until the ink was dry on their divorce papers – and that wouldn't happen for several more months. So basically he was stuck – or absolutely fucked if you wanted to put it more accurately.

Peyton blew out a breath of her own. "How bad is it? Be honest."

"Well for starters I have to give up my place. I can't afford it anymore." He was currently living in a two bedroom apartment. The second bedroom was for Sawyer for when she stayed with him.

"Jesus Lucas." Peyton muttered. She rubbed the side of her face. "I'm taking over the mortgage." She quickly informed him. Though she no longer wanted to be married to the man, that didn't mean that she took joy out of him not being able to afford something so simple as his own rent.

"No." He told her with tight lips. "I can still cover it."

"Don't be stupid." She barked. "Your first mistake was not keeping the house when I offered it to you."

"This is Sawyer's home. I don't want her being raised anywhere else but here. This is our home and I don't know why you keep fighting me on that."

Peyton shook her head at him in disbelief. "Lucas you just told me you have no money." He was being stubborn as usual. "And I offered you the house back then because I know how much it means to you. I would have been perfectly fine living somewhere else." They had lived together in his childhood home. The house where is own mother had raised him. During their engagement and the first couple of years of their marriage, they had lived in this tiny one bedroom apartment because it was all they could afford at the time, but when they got pregnant with Sawyer they started looking for houses. Karen had sold the house a couple of years before that. Keith had gotten a teaching job down in Charleston and so they sold it and moved. When the blond couple began house hunting imagine their surprise when they noticed that Lucas' old house was up for sale. They took it as a sign that they were meant to raise their family in that house, the very same house where Lucas was raised. So with their savings and a generous gift from Peyton's parents they were able to make the down payment on the house and call it their new home.

"I don't care. You and Sawyer stay put here. It's where you both belong and that's final."

"Fine, whatever." Peyton mumbled knowing she won't win this particular fight. "That doesn't mean you have to pay the mortgage."

"It's fine Peyton." Lucas irritably grumbled.

"Are you really that big of an idiot?" She exclaimed. "I can afford it on my own just fine, unlike you apparently." It was a low blow, but the man clearly needed an ego check.

Lucas scoffed angrily at her. "You think this is easy for me Peyton? Admitting that I can't fucking take care of my own family! That I've failed!"

"Lower your damn voice. Sawyer is sleeping and I'd preferred it if our neighbors weren't aware of all our business." Peyton hissed at him. "Lucas, it is not your job to take care of me. Not anymore. All you need to do is take care of yourself and help me raise our daughter, that's it. That's the deal."

"As long as we're still married I'm always gonna take care of you Peyton."

She couldn't hide the eye roll and snort that soon followed even if she tried. "Do me a favor and save your romantic savior bullshit for another day. I'm really not in the mood." She crossed her arms over her chest to make her point.

Lucas frowned.

Once upon a time words like this would have turned her insides into straight up jelly, but that woman was long gone. Any admiration she had for him and his words had since been long erased. Now it just felt ridiculously corny and forced. Sometimes Peyton couldn't believe how she had eaten up that bullshit for years. What a fool she had been because in the end all those pretty words he had strung together were meaningless. They didn't mean a goddamn thing.

"Listen Lucas…" Her voice had settled down some. "If things are really that bad like you say they are…I can loan you some money."

"Peyton we're in the middle of our divorce you can't just give me money."

"Sure I can. I'm sure we can find some discreet way around it. I'll loan you money and then when you get the settlement from the divorce you can pay me back."

Lucas glared over at her suspiciously. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my wife?" He couldn't remember the last time she had been this nice to him. It was freaky.

"Are we really gonna go there?" She challenged. So yes he had a point, her offering him money was odd considering that most days she wanted nothing more than for him to drop dead. And yes, had this little conversation taken place a year ago when the wounds of his betrayal had still been fresh, she most definitely would have told the man to go kick rocks and to go hit up the whore who had shoved her face between his legs. But despite her better judgment Peyton still cared for the man standing right in front of her. They had been together for almost twenty years, married for a little over ten, and were raising a child together – it wasn't something you could exactly erase from memory. She knew she shouldn't care about his problems. It wasn't any of her business anyway, but she couldn't help it. Too bad Quinn wasn't here to slap some much needed sense her way. "Just take the money."

"Absolutely not. Even if you could I don't want your money anyway, so forget it."

"Fine. I get it. God forbid I emasculate that male ego of yours." She held her hands up in defeat. "Ask your brother for money then. God knows he has a shit ton of it and Nathan will gladly just give it to you." She suggested. Nathan had been playing in the NBA for years now and he was pretty loaded at this point. The endorsement deals alone had him, Haley and Jamie set for life.

"I'm not asking Nate for money." Lucas gritted through his teeth. What he didn't tell Peyton was that he had already hit up Nathan for money months ago, when he first realized that he was running low on cash. His brother had generously handed him a check insisting that he didn't have to bother paying him back. It had been enough to tide him over while he was still working on getting a new book advance, but of course the advance never came and Nathan's money was pretty much all gone at this point. The thought of having to tuck his tail between his legs and go ask his brother for more money was humiliating. The first time Lucas had asked had been humiliating enough and he had no desire to repeat it, so going to Nathan was not an option.

Peyton huffed. "Then I don't understand why we're even having this conversation Lucas. You won't let me pay for the house and you don't want to borrow money. So why are you here Lucas? Why are you telling me this at all?"

"I need a favor. That's why." The blond replied while running a hand through his hair.

Peyton narrowed her eyebrows at the man. "A favor? Short of lending you money, I don't see how else I could help you in this situation Lucas. What exactly is it that you want?"

He took in a deep breath mentally preparing himself. This was the part of their conversation that was really going to piss her off. "Well just hear me out…I was thinking that if I move out of my place, instead of getting a smaller place that's just gonna be overpriced anyway, I could just move in back here for a little while, you know until I sort out my situation, and since I won't have to pay rent for a new place I'll be able to cover the mortgage no problem." He had already planned it all out.

Peyton's jaw was practically on the floor. "You cannot be serious." There was no way he was seriously suggesting this. It had to be a joke. "Oh my god you're not joking are you?" She said moments later noticing the look of guilt across his features and his decision to remain silent. "Have you lost your goddamn mind?!" She shrieked at him.

"Lower your voice honey the neighbors can hear." Lucas spoke mockingly, the comment earning him an immediate scowl from Peyton. "Listen it's really not a big deal, I can stay in the guest bedroom, it hardly gets used anyway…"

"No! Absolutely not! You are not moving back in here Lucas and you got some real balls for even asking!" He really did have some nerve. Clearly he was desperate, not to mention delusional. "You are such an asshole! I can't believe this is what you've been playing at this whole time." She was furious.

"Peyton do you think I'd really be asking if it wasn't necessary? No offense sweetheart but I'm not exactly jumping at the prospect of us living together again under the same roof. You're not exactly a joy to be around these days, but I'm out of options here."

There was nothing more she wanted to do than to slap that cocky smirk off his face right now. Lucas knew how to rile her up in more ways than one and he never wasted an opportunity to do so – much like when they were younger. "Out of options?!" She scoffed.

"Yes." He replied. "Just do this favor for me okay? Peyton c'mon, we were together for almost twenty years. Do you really care that little for me that you're just gonna leave me out on the street?"

Peyton huffed at him in disbelief. "Out on the street? Hardly." She rolled her eyes. "You can stay with Nathan and Haley. They have tons of spare bedrooms!"

"No." He replied firmly.

Peyton sighed. She knew her husband well enough to know that he was letting his pride get in the way. He was too proud to ask for a handout – though apparently not when it came to her and his ridiculous suggestions. Moving in with his brother and best friend was out of the question, but invading her personal space wasn't. This man really was a piece of work.

"Fine." Peyton gritted. "You can stay with Skills and Mouth, or Junk and Fergie, or literally anyone else but me."

Lucas shook his head. "I'd be sleeping on their couch. I'd have no privacy."

"Oh I'm sorry are we being picking about where we get to live now?" She spat out. "Just sounds like a lot of excuses to me Lucas."

He said nothing, which only served to irritate her further.

"Fine, if you don't wanna stay with your friends then why don't you ask that little tween that you're dating if you can crash with her?"

His face dropped.

Peyton let out a humorless laugh. "What? Did you really think I wouldn't find out that you're dating some college senior that's barely legal enough to drink? C'mon Lucas I know you're not that stupid."

"Who told you about that?" Lucas demanded.

Peyton smirked. "Quinn."

"Who the hell told her?!"

"Haley."

Lucas blew out a breath. "Goddammit Nathan." He cursed under his breath as his hands fisted up. "I'm allowed to have a girlfriend Peyton." He quickly recovered. "Last time I checked we weren't together." He added coolly. "I don't need your permission or approval."

She snorted. "I never said you did." What she really wanted to say was that a man his age had no business dating a twenty-one year old senior in college and that he should be ashamed of himself, but he was right, she really had no say in the matter. "And now you can stay with whatever her name is. Problem solved."

"I can't. Bro– "

Peyton cut him off. "Do not say her name. I don't actually care enough to learn it." She glared at him the entire time while speaking.

He sighed. "I can't stay with her either, she lives in a sorority house." He grudgingly confessed.

Lucas frowned when Peyton began to laugh hysterically. "Of COURSE she does." She was laughing loudly for at least a minute before she was able to speak again. "Let me guess she was probably a cheerleader too." It really was all too cliché.

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "You were a cheerleader." He quickly pointed.

"Which is exactly why I know your type." She mocked. "Though when I was a cheerleader your little girlfriend was still in diapers."

"Are you jealous?" He said in an amused tone.

She rolled her eyes. "Hardly."

Lucas grinned. "Sounds like your jealous to me."

"Don't flatter yourself Luke. Getting rid of your trifling ass was the best decision I've made in a long time, but what does concern me is my daughter, and I don't want whatever dumb floozy you're dating around Sawyer."

"She's not some dumb floozy." Lucas defended.

"I don't give a fuck! Keep your girlfriend away from Sawyer."

"Relax Peyton, geez. I wouldn't just do that. Sawyer has no idea I'm seeing someone, and the thought of bringing my girlfriend around when Sawyer's visiting has never occurred to me. Give me a little more credit will you? When have I ever let you down when it comes to our daughter? We're good okay?"

"Good. It better stay that way Lucas. I mean it." She warned.

"Still sounds like you're jealous to me." He sang out unable to keep himself from riling her up again. Old habits die hard.

She was rolling her eyes once more. "You can leave now."

* * *

In the next chapter Leyton's conversation on the porch continues. We'll find out if Peyton decides to let Lucas move in and the details behind their separation will be revealed. Also I think it's pretty obvious who Lucas' new girlfriend is in this story and just to make it clear now, she had nothing to do with Leyton's breakup.

So looking forward to reading what you guys think!

Until next time!


	4. The Talk, Part 2

Reviews

 **Liese** \- I'm glad you're enjoy this new approach to LP! I certainly am enjoying writing it.

 **Tpassions** \- There's a lot more to the story regarding Leyton's broken relationship. You'll get more deets in this chapter. I know Lucas is not the most sympathetic character in this story, but trust me Peyton has her flaws as well.

 **Rosek124** \- These two have quite the journey ahead of them and I'm glad you've decided to come along for the ride. :)

 **Chilarie07** \- So happy to see that you're reading another one of my stories! You are awesome! I can totally see how the whole age gap thing with Brooke can be kind of creepy, though it's definitely not my intention to have it portrayed that way. You'll get some insight on Brucas' relationship either two or three chapters from now.

 **S. Jamedra** \- I am loving writing these new LP personalities. It's been kind of fun and I like that I'm able to take these characters in a direction that my other stories have never allowed me to before! Thanks for your support!

 **itsnjm1** \- You'll get more deets about the breakup in this chapter.

 **jordana60** \- LOL! Omg I literally laughed out loud when I read your comment about 'Lucas blows it by getting blown', that was pure genius! Also if you didn't catch on, Lucas' 21 year old girlfriend is Brooke.

 **B** \- Well there's a lot more to come! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **atnelly** \- lol yes lots of drama and don't worry I could never forget about 'Strangers' - that's my baby and priority, which is why this story doesn't get updated as much right now.

 **Kb** \- I too am excited to start writing scenes once they start living together! Lucas is going to make for an interesting new 'roommate'.

 **thibbs65** \- The banter picks up in this chapter and things start to get very heated.

 **Superman07** \- Yes Lucas cheated on Peyton and you'll find out the how and why in this chapter.

 **Guest -** Lol! Glad to hear you find this story so juicy!

 **Guest** \- Details on Lucas' infidelity are revealed in this chapter.

 **Guest** \- Yes you most certainly have a valid point, not all relationships end when one party cheats. I think there's even more truth to that when children are involved and it makes it harder to completely walk away. Technically Leyton isn't divorced just yet, so who knows maybe this marriage can still be salvaged! You'll have to keep tuning in to find out! :)

 **Guest** \- Hahaha! Yes Lucas is dating someone much younger than him, but he's also at a low point in his life, which makes people more vulnerable and open to comfort in the most of unusual places sometimes. How Brucas came to be in this story will be revealed within the next few chapters.

* * *

Wow, so I love you guys. The feedback and support for this new story has been tremendous! I didn't expect this story to be so well received, especially since Lucas and Peyton are so different from their canon counterparts, but apparently you all seem to like that fact! I'm super grateful and appreciate each and everyone of you, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I know everyone is curious about what exactly happened between Leyton and that will be revealed in this chapter. A lot of you are also asking questions about Brooke being much younger in this story and dating Lucas. I promise you guys that all will be explained in a later chapter. Just hang in there for me!

* * *

Chapter 4: The Talk, Part 2

"It wouldn't be forever. It'd be temporary, just for a little while."

"Oh my god!" The blonde exclaimed. She had just asked Lucas to leave and of course he completely ignored it. "I am never going to agree to this Lucas. You're wasting your breath. Either stay with someone else or get a smaller place, and you won't have to worry about the mortgage anymore. I can handle that just fine."

"Just hear me out Peyt–"

Peyton cut right in. "I think I've heard _more_ than enough. The answer is no." She wore a sad expression on her face while shaking her at Lucas. "I mean honestly Lucas I…how could you ever think that would be a good idea? And I'm even more curious to know how you managed to convince yourself that I'd go for it."

"You're being too rash about all this." Lucas quickly defended. "You won't even hear me out."

"And you're acting like a complete fool." Peyton retorted. "I mean even if I were to entertain this ridiculous suggestion of yours, what the hell are we supposed to tell everyone when they discover that I've let my cheating husband just waltz right back into my home?"

Lucas scoffed. "So that's what this is all about? Because you care what other people think?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not other people, just Sawyer." Of course she cared what her friends would have to say, but no one was more important than her daughter.

"What are you talking about? Sawyer would be thrilled to have us all back together again and you know it."

Peyton closed her eyes and blew out a breath trying to control the anger inside that was threatening to slip out. "That's just it Lucas we are _not_ together. Sawyer's just starting to accept that we are no longer together, and I'm not about to go confuse our daughter or provide some false sense of hope about us reuniting because that's exactly what would happen if I let your ass move back in here."

"Would us getting back together really be the worst thing in the world?" He mumbled softly though still loud enough that Peyton's ears caught every single word.

"We are never getting back together Lucas." The blonde snapped irritably. "We are done."

Lucas left his spot against the banister and his hand shot out grabbing her arm. "I still love you Peyton." He had roughly yanked her out of the porch swing to stand. She tried to fight off the grip on her arm as he stepped closer.

Peyton swallowed hard. He was too close for comfort. It was downright inappropriate how close his face was to hers, his eyes boring into hers. He shouldn't being doing things like this anymore, things that used to send her heart racing and force her to catch her breath. "Let go of me." She ordered through gritted teeth, and she wasn't asking nicely.

He kept talking. The hold over her arm remained unyielding. "I've had eyes for you since I was thirteen and I've been in love with you since I was fifteen. What we have doesn't just go away. You and me are set in stone and there's no other way around it. I will never stop loving you and our daughter. You and Sawyer are my entire world."

Peyton's eyes shifted in anger and narrowed down. He had no right. He couldn't just say that he loved her and expect it to magically fix everything. All the words in the world couldn't fix this broken heart and it most certainly couldn't make her forget his infidelity. It infuriated Peyton that Lucas thought simply loving her would be enough to make their marriage work – it might have been enough once upon a time, but that ship had since sailed, crashed, burned, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. And like the Titanic, it was unrecoverable.

"And where was all this when you decided to sneak off into a bathroom with your editor? Because if you really ever loved _us_ – _your_ _family_ – then you would have never crossed that line. But I guess it was just another classic case of out of sight out of mind, huh?" She looked absolutely disgusted with him. "You didn't give a damn about your family. You didn't give a damn about me. You don't hurt the people you love."

A little over a year ago Lucas had been in New York for a couple of business meetings with his publishing house. While he was there his longtime editor Lindsey Strauss had invited him to an event the company was having one evening. Having nothing else better to do he decided to go. He spent the night schmoozing with big names in the publishing world and getting introduced to a couple of up-and-coming writers. Lindsey had been at his side for most of the night, keeping him company and making the necessary introductions. The drinks had been flowing freely and the two had knocked back more than enough throughout the evening. Lucas had indulged simply because it had been awhile since he had been to a party and was free to drink. His life back home as a husband and father didn't allow him to go out and let loose very often. He honestly couldn't remember the last time him and Peyton had hit the town. Their life kind of revolved around Sawyer and truthfully he didn't mind. He loved his quiet little life back in Tree Hill, he loved being married, and he loved being a father, but sometimes it was kind of nice to kick back and take a quick break from those responsibilities.

He had asked Peyton to join him on this trip, as a little getaway of sorts, but she had refused. She claimed to be too busy with work to take time off. Things had been off between them lately, for months really if he was being completely honest. Lucas felt extremely disconnected from his wife. It wasn't the kind of rough patch of not getting along. They weren't fighting, in fact they just weren't doing much of anything. Peyton seemed to be too busy to be focused on anything besides work with the exception of their daughter. They were living together in the same house, but the woman he shared a bed with was starting to feel more like a stranger each and every day. She barely put any effort into their relationship. They never spent any time together alone and if they did she made it seem like it was a chore or some big inconvenience. She didn't look at him lovingly like she used to. He missed her touches, her kisses and her sweet words of affection. Hell he couldn't remember the last time she said _'I love you'_ out loud. He felt neglected and unwanted. Was Peyton tired or bored of him? Did she not want him anymore?

His first mistake that evening had been his excessive consumption of alcohol. At first he was drinking just for the fun of it, but then he noticed all the couples in attendance that evening and it got him jealous and thinking bitter thoughts over his wife and their marriage. He was mad at Peyton and he was tired of being ignored by her, and so he drank some more. His second mistake was allowing Lindsey to cling on to him all evening. She had been sending out signals the entire night and he'd be a fool not to notice. Her hand would linger on his arm for far too long, she'd lean over a little too close to speak into his ear, or she'd keep her gaze on him for a little longer than necessary and it was more than a little friendly – maybe even borderline seductive, especially when she'd tug on her lower lip while she was speaking. Lucas knew she was drunk. He was too. And he should have just gone right back to his hotel right then and there, but his alcohol-induced haze had won over. He was eating up all the attention Lindsey gave him like a starving dog. He was feeling vulnerable and it had been a nice ego boost. Lucas felt attractive, needed and wanted for the first time in months. Peyton never flirted with him anymore. It was nice to feel wanted again.

Then he found himself inside the bathroom with Lindsey. The second the door was locked behind them she had Lucas up against the wall urgently kissing him. Soon after that she was sliding down to her knees, pulling down his zipper and tugging him out of his pants. When it was over, Lindsey was back on her two feet, her hands fumbling with the buttons of his shirt and the buckle of his belt. She didn't get very far though, a loud pounding on the door had interrupted, someone standing outside waiting to use the bathroom. Lucas had never been more thankful for the interruption. He was painfully sober now. After Lindsey had finished giving him head the realization had set it. It was as if someone had thrown an ice-cold bucket of water over his head, snapping him out of his drunken state. A tremendous wave of guilt had washed over Lucas instantaneously and he knew not only that he couldn't go through with sleeping with his editor, but he didn't want to either.

She wasn't Peyton.

Interruption or not he wasn't going to sleep with her. The knock at the door had only just saved him from having to reject Lindsey right to her face. Lucas didn't say anything after that. He quickly made himself presentable and hightailed it out of the bathroom and fled the party, abandoning her. That was the last time he had seen or heard from Lindsey. She was already done editing his latest book, so they no longer needed to be in contact. Lucas put in a request for a new editor the next day and that was that.

Lucas' gaze faltered for a second, his blue eyes dropping to the ground. He sighed heavily before mustering the courage to face her once more. "I made a mistake, but you have to believe me, it meant nothing." He spoke sternly. "How many times do I have to tell you that? Why can't you just give me another chance?" His eyes pleaded with Peyton. "We can still be us again Peyton. I know you still love me too. You can deny it all you want, but I know you."

"Another chance?!" Peyton let out a humorless laugh. "You fucked your editor and you want a free pass?" She ignored his accusations of still loving him. She was not about to dive into that can of worms otherwise they'd be here all night.

"I didn't fuck her!" Lucas quickly spat. "And I've gone blue in the face telling you that countless times already and you still refuse to believe me."

"Oh my mistake, you just fucked her mouth right?" Peyton crudely clarified. "Truth is I wasn't there so who's to say what really went down that night? All I've been privy to is what you fessed up to, so excuse me for not placing one hundred percent of my trust into the words of a backstabbing cheater."

"I didn't have sex with her." Lucas said quietly. "I didn't let it get that far."

Of course that didn't change the fact that he still cheated on Peyton and he knew that. Lucas owned up to the blow job he'd received, but in Peyton's eyes he might as well have fucked Lindsey. He wasn't trying to gloss over his indiscretion. He knew it was a serious matter. Cheating was cheating no matter what the act and Lucas had wanted to work things out, to fix his marriage. He had been willing to put in all the work needed to repair the damage he had caused, but Peyton had never been willing to. She had cut him out of her life immediately. He knew she was hurt and felt betrayed by his actions, but she had disposed of him so quickly that even Lucas was left a little shell-shocked. It was as if he had never meant anything to her at all – though he knew that same argument could be and had been made for him cheating on her.

"Even if you didn't sleep with her that night as you claim, you would have eventually and if not Lindsey it would have been someone else."

"That's not true." He shook his head in protest. "I wasn't actively seeking out another woman Peyton. EVER. I just fucked up. I was weak, lonely and drunk, and I fucked up. It meant absolutely nothing and I haven't seen Lindsey since then. I got rid of her immediately. You know this!" They had been over this again and again. He didn't want Lindsey. He had never had those kinds of feelings or urges for that woman. It had been a drunken stupid mistake that had ended up hurting the only woman he had ever loved. He hated himself everyday for what he had done to Peyton and their marriage. He had ruined the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"Well I hope you didn't get rid of her for my sake because lord knows I was really rooting for you and man-faced Lindsey to work things out." Peyton sneered, her tongue completely coated with sarcasm.

Lucas huffed, running a hand over his face in frustration. His other hand was still firmly latched around her arm.

"Please remove your hand." Peyton commanded, but he still refused. "Now Lucas." Her patience was wearing thin. His jaw clenched in defiance, but nonetheless he loosened his grip allowing Peyton to free her arm. Lucas knew he'd only be making things worse for himself by not letting go. "Goodnight Lucas." She was officially done with this nonsense of a conversation. She began walking towards the front door.

He should have let it go. He really should have, but just like her, he was far too stubborn to let her have the final word in. "You know Peyton I'm getting really sick and tired of you dumping everything that went wrong with our marriage on me."

Peyton halted her steps and turned around. One of her brows raised up at Lucas in warning.

"We both know our marriage was in trouble long before I ever cheated." Peyton had never taken any responsibility for why they had grown apart in the first place and it still irked him til this day. "You had checked out of our marriage months before that."

She was absolutely boiling inside right now. In the span of ten minutes Lucas had managed to ruin all the effort they had been putting in these past couple of months to get along for Sawyer's sake. He was making it so easy to hate him. "How dare you?! Do not get this twisted Lucas. You cheated on me! You ruined us! You broke us! You threw away everything we built together the second you decided to let another woman touch you!" Her face was tightly pulled into an angry frown.

"Yes I cheated. I've never denied the role I've played in losing you, but I came clean and told you everything!" Lucas yelled back. "I could have been the asshole who never said a word, but you deserved better and I wanted to fix things between us because I loved you so much, but honestly I didn't know if you still even loved me."

Lucas hadn't confessed to Peyton at first. After New York, he had returned to Tree Hill determined to improve his marriage and put the whole damn thing with Lindsey behind him. He hadn't uttered a word to anyone about what had occurred, but as the weeks passed by the guilt he felt continued to consume him, and things between him and Peyton weren't getting any better anyway. No matter how hard he tried to bring the romance back into their marriage and regain the connection they used to have, it just wasn't happening. Then one evening he arrived home and was shocked to see that Peyton was actually home first from work waiting for him. She had cooked dinner for them and had candles lit up all over the place. She had dressed up for him, did her hair and makeup, and had even sent Sawyer to spend the night at Quinn's so that they could be alone together. Her efforts were a silent acknowledgement that she was trying. Peyton knew she hadn't been the best wife as of late and she was trying to make up for that.

But of course Lucas couldn't enjoy any of it, instead he felt like the scum of the earth as his guilt multiplied. He couldn't hold on to this secret any longer. He had to tell her.

So as they sat at the kitchen table to eat, Lucas played with the food on his plate not be able to stomach any at the moment, while Peyton ate and rambled on about her day. And then he blurted it out. All of it. His whole body was sweating bullets the entire time. Lucas remembered the fork in her hand dropping and clanking against the rim of her plate. He remembered the range of emotions that took control of her face. It went from shocked, to pained, to teary and then finally anger. Their dinner had been furiously shoved off the table and then she had reached across the table and slapped his face so hard that he saw stars. Peyton had never felt so betrayed in her entire life. This was the man that she had been with for more than half of her life, the only man she had ever been with and he had just shattered it all. And of course Lucas had only further twisted the knife in her gut when he revealed that it had been with his editor. A woman who had been inside their home many times before and Peyton had even cooked fucking dinner for her at one point. Peyton never considered Lindsey to be a good friend or anything, but they got along well enough and Peyton had always liked her, only to find out that this bitch had probably been after her husband this entire time? Peyton could hardly believe it. She felt so hurt. But as much as Peyton wanted to hate Lindsey – which she still did – at the end of the day Lindsey wasn't bonded by any loyalty to her, she didn't owe Peyton a thing, they were barely friends. Lucas on the other hand, that was a different story. Where was his loyalty and commitment to their marriage, to their family? She never thought it was possible to have such pure hatred for someone, yet still love them at the same time, and she had Lucas Scott to thank for that.

They fought for some time – well really it was more of her angrily yelling at him in tears, and him begging for her forgiveness. He literally begged at one point. He had sunk to his knees, desperately asking for another chance while his hands clung to one of her legs. She kicked him out of the house that same night. He crashed at Nathan and Haley's only disclosing that they'd had a fight, nothing more. The next morning Lucas arrived at the house early to talk, but Peyton had already anticipated his moves and had picked up Sawyer even earlier, knowing well that they couldn't exactly discuss any of this in front of their daughter. When he arrived Peyton had met him out on the porch. She simply told him that all of his shit was boxed up in the garage waiting to be collected. She had stayed up all night packing his things and it showed – she was an awful mess. She then told him to be quick about it and reentered the house leaving him alone on the porch.

"I didn't love you?!" Peyton yelled outraged. "You get off in some bathroom with your editor and my love for you was the one in doubt?"

"You barely acknowledged me Peyton! You only communicated with me when you wanted me to do something around the house or when it concerned Sawyer, that's it! I didn't feel needed or wanted or loved by you. We hadn't had sex in months! You just treated me like your errand boy. It's like you didn't want a husband anymore. I felt like I was your fucking roommate. I was lonely. You neglected me because you were too involved with everything else BUT me. And I tried so hard to fix it, but you never made time for me. You couldn't be bothered." Lucas sighed sadly. "What happened Peyton? Were you bored? Did you not want to be with me anymore? Because I can't for the life of me figure out why you started to pull away from me. It's like you woke up one day and decided that you didn't need me anymore."

Peyton huffed. "Of course, here we go again!" She spoke incredulously. "It's all my fault that you cheated! I wasn't putting out like a good little wife should and naturally I pushed you into the arms of another woman. Instead of working hard at building my business and career, and providing for our family, what I should have been doing was staying at home every day and servicing you, so of course you had to punish me for it."

"Don't fucking twist my words Peyton!" He snapped. "Don't act like I never supported you and your work. I busted my ass supporting this family when you decided to open up the studio and gallery with Quinn just to keep our heads above water. I was one hundred percent behind you to make that dream come true and I was happy to do it. I didn't care that you worked. I've always been proud of you. What I cared about, was that you seemed to love being at work more than you loved being with me. I wasn't enough for you anymore and it broke my heart."

Peyton swallowed hard as she blinked back a few tears. "And you broke mine." Her voice trembled. "So I guess we're even."

"It's still not too late Peyton." Lucas pleaded. "We can still be a family. If you would just let me in again…"

"Get the fuck off my porch Lucas!" The blonde growled.

"OUR porch. This is still my home too."

"You have no home here." She replied coldly. "If it were up to me I'd take Sawyer and you would never see either one of us again. You're the worst part about this family Lucas and you made sure of that, and now you get to live with that for the rest of your life."

Lucas' face fell in devastation. He really had lost her for good. She really didn't want him anymore.

* * *

So there you have it. Lucas cheated on Peyton with Lindsey, and Leyton had been drifting prior to that. I hope you guys enjoyed it because this chapter was a real bitch to write to be honest. Getting the dialogue just right took forever and I was struggling, so please let me know what you think!

Next up: Peyton's left unsettled by her fight with Lucas and we'll get an appearance from my girl Quinn.

Until next time!

Also if you like this story, you might enjoy my other Leyton fic 'Strangers in the Night' (if you don't follow it already), so check it out!


	5. Conflicting Emotions

Reviews

 **VriG** – So glad you're enjoying it! Thank you so much for reading!

 **Divine Lustre** – Hello there new reader! Thank you so much for your kind words and for checking out my story! It truly means a lot to me. I'm thrilled that you're able to understand where both Peyton and Lucas are coming from in regards to their failed marriage because it means I'm doing something right, lol! I definitely want the audience to see that everything is not so black and white between these two. Even though Lucas was the one who strayed, Peyton's not perfect either. She has her own faults as well.

 **Chilarie07** – Ah man the emotional vs physical cheating is a hard debate! Either way it sucks, but I think I agree with you there that it is much harder to come back from an emotional betrayal, and thankfully that's not the case in this story. Lucas loves Peyton, I think that much is obvious. As we move forward with this story we'll learn more about where Peyton's at in regards to her feelings towards Lucas.

 **S. Jamedra** – Yup Luke's kind of asshole and I'm really enjoying writing him that way. It's been fun! Though he's definitely not a "bad guy" per se, he just has a little more swag/attitude to his image if you will. And why did Peyton pull away from Lucas in the first place? You'll have to wait and see! Keep reading!

 **brucas** – Thank you for reading! I'm glad you've enjoyed the first few chapters. Just a fair warning though this is a Leyton story and Brooke's role in this story is very limited, which is something I mentioned before in an earlier chapter.

 **powerofthebabe** – Well first off let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of your story _Into the Abyss_ – it's one of my favorite OTH stories on here! I'm super flattered and touched that you're enjoying it so far, so thank you so much for your kind words. There are definitely a lot of conflicting emotions at play here and I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling them right along with Leyton.

 **thibbs65** – I wish I could tell you why Peyton pulled away from Lucas in the first place, but I gotta keep that little nugget to myself for the time being! Lol

 **jordana60** – Thank you so much for your encouraging words. That last chapter really was difficult to put out into words, and having no personal experience with this kind of situation myself, I tried my hardest to put myself in the shoes of a couple in this situation and how they would behave, say, etc. And also don't worry! No need to get hung up on me saying 'Brucas', lol. I only used it because at this point in the story that's what Lucas and Brooke are – a couple – but in no way or form was that meant to be taken as the endgame. This is a Leyton story and like I mentioned before Brooke isn't even a main character in this story and won't be featured much.

 **B** – So awesome that you thought it was a powerful chapter! Thank you!

 **Guest** \- Hahahaha! Peyton is most definitely not here for the BS. She knows how to handle her husband, after all this is someone she's been dealing with since she was 15. But at the same time because she was with Lucas for so long, he's also her biggest weakness.

 **Guest** – No don't worry, Sawyer totally did not hear any of that! She was soundly asleep I promise! And plus Peyton made sure to have her conversation with Lucas outside of the house as a precaution. Peyton definitely knows she isn't exactly blameless in the deterioration of her marriage, but she's stubborn and getting her to admit that out loud is gonna be tough, especially since she's the scorned woman here.

* * *

Chapter 5: Conflicting Emotions

The next morning a very restless Peyton arrived at work. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night after her squabble with Lucas. She had been absolutely livid with the man, but long after he left, when her anger had finally subsided, it had been replaced with this overwhelming sense of guilt and worry that she hadn't been able to shake off since. Thoughts of Lucas had nagged her brain all last night and still now, and she hated him for it. Hated that he still had this power over her, no matter how hard she tried to break free from it.

"Morning girlie!" Quinn James greeted watching her best friend come walking through the doors of the joint-business they owed.

Located right smack in the center of downtown Tree Hill, _Focus_ , was an art gallery and photo studio that the two women had opened together a couple of years after graduating college. It had started as a little pipe dream between two friends who shared a profound passion for creating and sharing art with the world. With a lot of hard work and a sizable small business loan, that little dream eventually grew into a very successful business. Okay, so maybe they weren't exactly sharing their art with the _world_ , but tourists and residents from Tree Hill and the surrounding area seemed to be enjoying what this decently sized gallery had to offer.

Peyton managed to grunt out a quick hello. She was tired and cranky, and part of her wished she'd called out sick today. Then again that really wasn't an option since they were short on help this week. The girl they'd hired to help out part-time, Sam Walker, a high school senior with a good eye for photography, was away this week with her family.

"You okay?" Quinn asked picking up on the blonde's bad mood.

Peyton walked behind the counter and joined her. "I'll be fine." Peyton muttered, while rubbing her temples. She removed the messenger bag strapped over her shoulder, setting it down over the counter. The removal of her jacket soon followed. "Coffee?" She questioned hoping that her friend had already handled it.

Quinn nodded, her eyes tearing away from the schedule she was reading. "Just made a fresh pot in the back."

"How's it looking today?" Peyton asked peering over at the printout in Quinn's hands.

"Pretty slow." Quinn replied. They weren't super booked today, which was nice. It would give her some time later to work on some personal photos she had been itching to develop. "I've got that photo shoot with Chris and Alicia this morning, and that's pretty much it besides those deliveries that need to go out today and the courier service should be here around noon to pick those up."

"Great." Peyton spoke, happy that she could take it easy today. She grabbed her jacket and bag, and started heading towards the back where their small office and kitchenette was located.

"Bring me back a cup will ya?" Quinn requested as she tucked her long honey blonde strands behind her ears. She had colored it this past summer, ditching the natural dark chocolate locks she had been born with for the first time ever.

Peyton nodded continuing her journey towards the back of the gallery.

She returned a few minutes later with two steaming mugs of freshly brewed coffee.

Quinn took the mug that was offered to her. She mouthed a quick thanks and returned to the call she was on, answering questions for a potential customer who had called in while Peyton had been in the back. "Yup you heard right, we certainly do custom paintings. Peyton Sawyer is the artist here that can do that for you. We're open from 9 to 6 during the week and every other Saturday from 10 to 4….yea absolutely you can stop by today. Peyton's here all day. You can take a look at her original work here at the gallery and she can also show you some examples of her other commissioned works. Great! I'll let her know to expect you then and you guys can discuss exactly what you're looking for…perfect, see you then. Thanks for calling Focus, bye." Quinn put down the receiver and turned to Peyton. "There's a woman dropping by around three. She wants an oil painting done of her childhood home. Her name is Camille."

Peyton nodded, made a mental note and then took a sip of her coffee.

"So I had the pleasure of seeing your husband last night." Quinn announced without any ounce of enthusiasm.

"Ah did he manage to ruin your night too?" Peyton huffed.

Quinn chuckled. "Well that explains why you're such a grouch face this morning."

Peyton stuck out her tongue at her best friend. "You don't know me." She playfully mocked.

Quinn rolled her eyes. Like hell she didn't. "Well it's either that or I was gonna ask who peed in your cheerios this morning, but I'm gonna stick with the former. What happened?"

"Wait, how come you saw Lucas last night?" The blonde wondered.

"I was at Haley and Nathan's having dinner when he dropped off Jamie." Quinn explained. "Though he was acting kind of weird and distracted…on edge, even nervous I'd say. The jerk didn't even engage in trading insults with me like we usually do. You guys get into it when he dropped Sawyer off?"

Peyton shook her head. "Not really. He needed to talk so he actually stopped by again after leaving Haley's and then we sort of argued." She sighed.

"What did he want?"

"Nothing worth repeating." Peyton replied as casually as possible. She wasn't about to go on ahead and reveal that Lucas had no money. It wasn't her business to tell and she wouldn't betray Lucas like that either. Despite their rocky relationship, she knew he'd never share her personal problems with others if the situation were reversed.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so bothered then?"

Peyton shrugged. "We haven't fought in months. I'm just mad that he ruined it." She quickly replied. It wasn't the whole story, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. She really was pissed that Lucas had stirred up shit yet again with his ego and that smart mouth that was attached to it.

Peyton wasn't even sure why she had also omitted the part about Lucas wanting to temporary move back home. Normally she wouldn't have hesitated to tell her best friend something like that, while still leaving out the part about Lucas being broke. But truthfully Peyton wasn't even sure herself of what she wanted anymore. While last night she had been confident and certain of her decision to not let her husband back into their home, that wasn't exactly the case this morning. When she had been left alone with her thoughts later that night, they had surprisingly betrayed her, and now she was feeling confused over all of it.

Even worse than the confusion was the fact that she was feeling incredibly guilty.

Though she didn't regret most of the things she had said last night, she really didn't mean the part about taking Sawyer away and never seeing Lucas again. She would never do that. Not to her daughter and she would never do that to Lucas either. Her husband was a good father, the best really. Peyton didn't want Sawyer growing up without her father around and she didn't want Lucas missing out on Sawyer growing up either. And legally speaking she couldn't exactly disappear with Sawyer even if she wanted too. She and Lucas had shared custody of Sawyer and it would remain that way. She had really only said that last night because she was upset and wanted to hurt him, and judging by the look on his face she had succeeded. Lucas hadn't said much after that, only quickly mumbling something about needing to get back on the road since it was getting late, and then he left. Hurting him had felt really good in that moment, but it was fleeting. She had felt pretty shitty not long afterwards. Using Sawyer and throwing it in his face to hurt him just didn't sit right with her in the end. It wasn't fair of her to do that. Sawyer was innocent in all of this.

She also felt guilt over insinuating that Lucas had never supported her career. That was a big fat lie and Lucas had every right to call her out on it, which he had. Without Lucas' support, she highly doubted that she would have ever been able to go through with opening the gallery and studio with Quinn in the first place. Her and Quinn had starting toying with the idea of opening up their own business a year after graduating college, when Quinn had finally moved back home from California because apparently she was over it. Quinn James forever the free spirit was ready to move on to something new, but it also had a lot to do with needing to escape an awful breakup with her longtime college boyfriend David Fletcher. Quinn had dabbled with photography in high school and went on to pursue it in college, and since Peyton had gone to school for art and business, they figured that between the two of them they could figure it out and start something great. When Peyton had first approached Lucas with the idea, they had just gotten married a couple of months before and for obvious reasons weren't exactly swimming in money, just like most young newlyweds. When they had first moved back to Tree Hill after college, the newly engaged couple had immediately moved in together and had accepted jobs at Tric, that Karen had so generously offered. Karen was looking to cut down on her hours so that she could stay at home more to raise Lily. So Peyton had taken her old high school job back of promoting and booking bands, while Lucas pretty much managed everything else at Tric. Their combined salaries were enough to get them by, but if Peyton wanted to start her own business it would mean quitting her job at Tric.

Lucas had thrown down his support immediately. He knew it was Peyton's dream to be an artist and she was too talented not to pursue this. So with his blessing Peyton quit her job and Lucas had agreed to financially support them both for the time being. His job at Tric wouldn't be enough, so he basically picked up any odd job he could get his hands on for the extra income. He repaired cars, he tutored high school kids in english, writing and SAT prep, and he coached little youth basketball and football just to name a few. When Quinn and Peyton had found the perfect location for the gallery, Lucas was the one who had recruited all their friends to help paint and fix up the place, put up the light fixtures and even build some shelf space. The first year they had opened up _Focus_ had been a stressful one. Peyton and Quinn had worked countless long days and nights to perfect the place and get the business up and running. Financially they had barely broke even that first year, but that was pretty typical of most new businesses and the girls weren't discouraged by that fact. They'd just have to work harder. Things got a little more stressful though when Peyton learned that she was pregnant with Sawyer, something she and Lucas weren't anywhere near ready for financially, no matter how excited they were to be parents. Lucas also worried about Peyton working too hard now that she was pregnant. He wanted to make sure she was taking care of herself and the baby. But in the end things worked out, the gallery slowly but surely began turning a profit and eventually Lucas no longer needed to work multiple jobs to support them.

And that's what really made this whole mess with Lucas last night all the more difficult. He had supported her dream and in turn she had done the same for him. Because of his HCM, Lucas' dreams of playing pro ball were obliterated – something he didn't discover he had until his senior year of college when he collapsed on the court from a heart attack during a game against Duke - but dreams of being an author had always remained a close second. He had been working on and off on a novel since high school and after college had sent it out to every publisher out there numerous times. After two years of never hearing anything back, he was close to giving up and getting his teaching license to teach literature at the high school. If he couldn't write books, then at least he'd still be surrounded by the books that had shaped his life and could hopefully do the same for a new generation of students. As dejected as he felt, Peyton had encouraged Lucas not to lose hope and to stick with it. She pushed him to revisit his novel and rework it if that's what needed to be done. And that's exactly that Lucas did. He made some heavy changes and a few months after sending out his revised manuscript, he heard back from a small publishing company in New York that was interested. He had finally made it.

They had both worked tirelessly to get where they are today. To both live comfortably enough and not have to worry about money or struggle to make ends meet like they had early on in their marriage, when they were both just a couple of kids living in some small crappy one bedroom apartment in a sort of shady part of town because it was all they could afford straight out of college. They had been a team, supporting each other every step of the way. And now Lucas had no money. He was struggling and despite everything they had been through this past year, Peyton took no pleasure out of that. Lucas had worked so hard and deserved every bit of success he had earned with his writing. And the only reason he was financially stuck at the moment was because of their divorce, the divorce she had petition for, not him. He didn't have access to money that he would normally have and it was sort of her fault, which is why she felt so damn guilty. Even though she no longer wanted to be married to the man, she didn't want to see Lucas struggling money wise. This whole situation just sucked and it was making Peyton question her decision. Having Lucas move back home she had no doubt was the worst idea ever, but it probably was the best way to help him since he stubbornly refuse to accept the loan she offered. She knew she really shouldn't be concerned about Lucas and his problems, because that's exactly what they were, _his_ problems, not hers, not theirs, just his. But as much as she hated to admit it Lucas still had this powerful hold over her. She'd always care for him, even after this divorce was finalized, she knew she would. Lucas Scott had been her first love and had given her so much. Having to let go of that was never easy.

"So pretty much the usual spiel then?" Quinn guessed. "He begged for forgiveness and then pissed you off on purpose?" She teased.

Peyton laughed. "Something like that." She replied taking another sip of her coffee.

"He's so ever predictable." Quinn muttered. "Like dude it's over, time to move on."

"Yea well Lucas has never been one to give up so easily. You know that better than anyone." The blonde reminded her.

Quinn shrugged. She had been the one to help Lucas out in his endless pursuit of Peyton back when they were teens. "Yea, but he's the one who screwed up and he needs to accept that. It's not your fault that he cheated and I don't like the fact that he makes it seem like the blame lies between the both of you."

Peyton sighed heavily. This was the last thing she wanted to discuss this morning. "It's a lot more complicated than that Quinny."

Quinn made a face, slightly surprised. It kind of sounded like Peyton was sort of defending her husband there. "What just because you guys were going through a rough patch means it was okay for him to do what he did? I know you definitely don't believe that." She said skeptically.

"Of course not." Peyton said quickly. "Lucas did what he did and he knows he fucked up, despite the fact that the idiot still wants brownie points for not technically sleeping with the bitch."

A snort passed through Quinn's nostrils as she laughed out loudly.

"But he's not completely wrong either…" Peyton trailed off hesitantly.

Quinn frowned. "Okay now you lost me."

Peyton loudly blew out a breath. "Okay…so before Lucas cheated you already knew that things were kind of off between us."

Quinn nodded. She knew the couple had been sort of disconnected, but not really knowing how it had happened. Peyton hadn't been forthcoming and Quinn never pressed for details knowing it really wasn't her place to demand answers if Peyton wasn't willing to share.

"Well…I..." Peyton began stuttering through her words. "I was sort of having…doubts." She confessed.

"Doubts?"

Peyton nodded. "Like constant, heavy, scary, serious doubts…"

"About what exactly?" Quinn leaned in narrowing her eyes at her friend.

Peyton blew out another nervous breath. "Doubts about Lucas…and whether or not I wanted to be married to him anymore, months before that whole mess with his editor even happened." She winced after she spoke.

Quinn immediately choked on the sip of coffee she had just taken. Her eyes went big. "Whoa hold up, wait a sec! Are you telling me that you were gonna leave Lucas?!" She exclaimed. She was completely thrown off by this new revelation. "Before he even cheated on you?! How could you not tell me that?! How did that even happen? I have so many questions." Quinn rambled off quickly.

"I…" Peyton nervously chewed on her bottom lip. She had never told anyone that. Not even Lucas. He had no clue back then that she wasn't sure if this marriage thing was for her anymore, months before he had flown to New York to meet with Lindsey for work. It was why she had first started pulling back from Lucas and it was the first time ever in their relationship that Peyton had ever held back her feelings and had not confided in him. She had felt so lost then.

"Peyton were you really going to leave Lucas?" Quinn questioned once more still in shock. Up until the whole cheating mess, she would have never pictured Lucas and Peyton not being together. They had been soulmates in her eyes. They'd had this great relationship that Quinn looked up to and had hoped to find herself one day.

Peyton gulped. "I…I…well…"

Both women paused turning their necks to face the front after the doors had chimed. Quinn's appointment for the day had just walked in. Chris and Alicia were a newly engaged couple that had hired Quinn to shoot their engagement photos, as well as the ones for their wedding next year.

"Hi guys! Good morning." Quinn greeted happily. "I'll be right with you guys. I just need to grab my equipment and we can get going." They had already scouted the locations for their pictures prior and today they were going to drive all over town and take the actual engagement photos.

Quinn turned back to face Peyton giving her some serious eye. "You bet your ass we're continuing this conversation later." She quickly whispered.

Peyton made an unhappy face and exhaled deeply. She was actually kind of happy that Quinn's clients had interrupted when they did. She thought she was finally ready to have this conversation out loud, but as it turns out she really wasn't. Not at all.

She watched Quinn quickly grab her shooting gear. "Have fun holding down the fort." Quinn waved off as she exited the building with Chris and Alicia.

 _Just great._

Now she had to figure out how the hell she was going to get out of having this conversation with her best friend.

* * *

So in this chapter we got a little peek inside Peyton's head and how she's feeling. The biggest reveal being that she was contemplating ending things with Lucas long before he cheated, something she hadn't even told Quinn about up until this point. Thoughts on that?

Up next: Leyton has another chat.


	6. The New Deal

Reviews

 **Divine Lustre** – It is absolutely sad to see the place where this couple is at in their lives! It's a big mess and they both screwed up, hurting each other in the process. Thanks for your review.

 **jordana60** – As always thanks for reading and supporting this story. It means a lot to me that you're enjoying it so far.

 **S. Jamedra** – Thanks! I'm glad you're still tuning in. As for Peyton's feelings towards Lucas, there's definitely more to it then her just not wanting to be married anymore. It'll come out eventually.

 **simplyaprillyn** – I'm also loving having Peyton  & Quinn as friends! I've never seen if done before in a fic and I wanted to do something different, and honestly I too could see them getting along really well on the show. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I know I've told you this like a dozen times already but thanks so much for the support April!

 **secondstarontheright** – Lol, actually I didn't even think about that with the whole Camille name connection. It was a total random choosing of a name! I know these last few chapters have been kind of intense, but things will start to get a little lighter once Leyton is back under the same roof. It'll be lots more banter and getting on each other's nerves, but with a playful twist. It's been so great getting to read all your thoughts on this story so far Krystal, so thank you!

 **Tpassions** – Lucas has no idea what was going on in Peyton's head when their marriage started to break down. She was basically a closed book. Him cheating was just a terrible combination of alcohol and feeling neglected and upset/angry at his wife's unexplained behavior towards him.

 **Destiana. Caldin** –Thanks for your review. I'm thrilled that you're finding this story believable, honest and plausible in terms of the character's thoughts and emotions! It's exactly what I'm trying to put out there.

 **thibbs65** – Definitely wasn't implying that Lucas had the right to cheat because Peyton wanted out of the marriage – Lucas doesn't even know that Peyton felt this way since she shut him out anyway. The last chapter was more about revealing that both of them are flawed and their breakup isn't so cut and dry. It's not just about Lucas cheating, Peyton played her role as well.

 **Mufc87** – Thank you for sharing your thoughts! This story really isn't about setting up Lucas to be the 'bad guy', which is why I purposely had it set a year after it all happened so that the dust could settle a bit. Though Peyton confides in Quinn, she's not going around badmouthing Lucas or turning their friends against him. Naturally there was some tension in the beginning, but at this point Lucas still maintains good relationships with his friends and family. No one is labeling Peyton as an 'angel.' They know Luke and Peyt were having issues, but they simply just don't know the whole story. The only character who does kind of behave openly hostile towards Lucas is really only Quinn, and that's mostly because she thinks it's her duty as a best friend. Peyton's definitely at fault here too. Just wanted to make it clear that this isn't a story about Lucas cheating and groveling his way back into her good graces. It's not the type of story here that I'm trying to achieve.

 **Guest** \- Since it hasn't been revealed yet why Peyton was having doubts about her marriage I can totally see why none of it makes sense at the moment, and that will be revealed in time. This story is a journey about a broken couple finding their way back to each other, so a 'happy Leyton' isn't something that will be happening quickly, but I can promise you that there will be some good Leyton moments in the in-between.

 **Guest** –Absolutely! I don't think anyone would disagree that Peyton should have confided in Lucas last year about her rising doubts – it could have probably saved their marriage. Her telling Quinn now, is more like a slow start of finally fessing up to having those feelings in the first place. She's kept it buried for so long now and the reasoning behind that will be addressed, I promise. Haley and Nathan will be popping up in this story, I promise! Setting up Leyton's situation is just kind of crucial first before we can dive into the lives of the other characters.

 **Guest** – Yes this situation is a tough one and by revealing why Peyton had checked out in turn gives us insight on how Lucas must have felt – all lost, confused, angry, etc. The reasoning behind Peyton's doubts will be revealed eventually.

* * *

Chapter 6: The New Deal 

Work hadn't turned out to be as slow as Peyton had hoped. As soon as Quinn had left for her photo shoot the place got busy, but being busy was good for business so she really couldn't complain. She sold one of her pieces hanging in the gallery, and managed to sell one of Quinn's photographs as well. The woman who had called in earlier came in and together they went over the specifics of the type of painting she was looking to commission. Someone else came in looking for a custom frame job, so she spent a good amount of time getting started on that today. The rest of time she was on the phone setting up appointments with clients who were looking to get their family portraits taken. The holiday season was quickly approaching so a good chunk of their business this time of year came from families seeking those perfect photos for their cheesy holiday cards. She knew it was hypocritical for her to make fun of the holiday cards, not long ago she too was mailing out 'Season's Greetings' cards of her own family unit to all her loved ones. Last year had been her and Sawyer's first Christmas without Lucas. She had spent it down south in Florida with Sawyer and her parents, which is where Larry and Anna Sawyer lived now. Lucas had gotten Sawyer for Thanksgiving instead and they had driven down to Charleston to spend it with Keith, Karen and Lily. This year however they were trading holidays – their way of trying to keep things fair. Peyton still wasn't sure yet where she would be spending Christmas this year. She could go to Florida again, but wasn't exactly thrilled about being so far from Sawyer even if technically she wouldn't see her for Christmas. Perhaps she'd be able to convince her parents to come up to Tree Hill instead this year.

Quinn ended up strolling back in much later than expected from her shoot, sometime after lunch. They quickly chatted about how their respective days went before Peyton had left the gallery in Quinn's care to go pick up Sawyer. She had an afterschool carpool going on with two other moms from Sawyer's school and it was her week to shuttle the kids either back home or to whatever afterschool activity they had going on. Those mom-ly duties this week had saved Peyton from having to continue the conversation with Quinn from this morning – for today at least. The blonde knew it was only a matter of time before Quinn brought it up.

It was just a little after seven now and Peyton was home in the kitchen washing dishes after dinner. After rinsing off the last plate and setting it on the dish rack to dry, she dried her hands and migrated to the fridge pulling out an already open bottle of white wine.

Sawyer walked into the kitchen with the house phone at her ear just as Peyton pulled out a wineglass from one of the cabinets.

"Just let me know if you find it okay? Thanks dad, love you too, bye."

"Dad called?" Peyton asked as she sat at the kitchen table with her freshly poured glass of wine. And yes she was being nosey.

Sawyer placed the cordless phone on the table and sat down. "Nope I called him. I think I left my favorite sweater in his car last night." She replied with a slight pout on her lips. "You know the nice purple one? I was planning on wearing it to Amy's birthday party this weekend."

Peyton nodded. "Well you probably won't get it back til next week when you see dad. We'll have to find something else for you to wear then."

Lucas didn't live in Tree Hill anymore. After their split he had crashed with Skills and Mouth for awhile before eventually finding his own place. Though no one had been more surprised than Peyton to find out that he had decided to move out of their hometown. Lucas now lived in a town much bigger than Tree Hill, that was halfway between Wilmington and home. It wasn't too far though, only about a 35-40 minute drive door-to-door. She'd never been, but everyone said his apartment was pretty nice.

"Actually no, dad's in Tree Hill right now. He's gonna check the car and drop it off later if he finds it."

"Lucas is in town today?" Peyton questioned before taking a sip of her wine.

Sawyer quickly nodded. "Yea I got lucky. He's at Uncle Skills' right now."

"Oh." She spoke as thoughts of Lucas plagued her mind once more. Work today had kept her busy enough from having to replay last night's argument in her head for most of the day, but she was still feeling pretty lousy over how they had left things. Her heart and mind were currently stuck in this tug of war and there was no clear direction in sight. She felt absolutely torn as she kept going back and forth, from wanting to help Lucas in some way, to trying to convince herself that she should stay out of it completely because she really shouldn't care at all. But that of course was easier said than done.

"Mom?" Sawyer called out.

Peyton shook her head, snapping out of her thoughts. "Sorry hun."

"You okay?"

She nodded and smiled. "Yea just spaced out a little that's all. I'm fine."

"Hey did you finish your homework?" Peyton then asked her daughter out of the blue.

"Yea, awhile ago…why?"

Peyton huffed out a breath before taking another sip of her wine and sinking further into her chair. "I think I kind of need to talk to dad and I rather do it in person than over the phone." She needed to talk to Lucas and get this over with. She actually wanted to get a good night's sleep this evening. Her mind was one stubborn bitch, so unless she fixed this hiccup with her estranged husband, this bad feeling she felt wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. "Since he's in town figured I could catch him."

"What do you need to talk to dad about?"

"Grown-up stuff, don't worry about it."

Sawyer frowned. She knew that was simply code for mind your own business. "Are you guys gonna fight again because you haven't done that in awhile, and it's been really nice and all."

"No fighting." Peyton replied. "I promise. Just talking."

Sawyer nodded.

"Grab your shoes, we're gonna drive over to Uncle Skills and Mouth's place."

Sawyer released a groan. "Do I have to go? Can't I just wait for you at home?"

Peyton narrowed her eyes at her baby girl.

"I'm old enough!" The younger Scott began to argue. "The house will still be standing when you get back." She joked. "I promise to only light things on fire outside of the house."

Peyton gave a deadpanned reply. "You're eleven. Nice try though. Get your shoes."

Sawyer huffed and rolled her eyes, but obeyed nonetheless and went off to collect her shoes.

* * *

"You'll be okay here for a few minutes then?" Peyton questioned her daughter as they sat in Peyton's car parked out front of Skills and Mouth's place. "I'll be quick."

Sawyer nodded. "Yeah, yeah…" She replied in a bored tone and pulled out her headphones so that she could listen to music on her iPod.

"Lock the car after I get out."

"Okay."

"I won't be long."

"Just go already mom!" Sawyer said through a laugh. "Jeez otherwise we'll be here all night and you're already making me miss the rest of the game." She complained.

"What game?"

"Um HELLO…UNC is playing against Notre Dame right now." Sawyer replied incredulously at how utterly clueless her mother was about basketball despite all those years she had cheered for the Ravens as a teen. "Kind of a big game here mom." She drawled out.

"Oh god." Peyton rolled her eyes. There really was no denying that this one was anyone but Lucas' kid. She was more Scott than Sawyer. Her child was obsessed with sports.

"Could you at least leave the keys in so I can listen to the game on the radio?"

"Just lock the damn door." She instructed one more time before exiting her Comet.

"So that's a no to the keys then?" Sawyer sweetly spoke after rolling down the passenger side window.

"What do you think?"

Sawyer simply just grinned and shooed her mother away.

* * *

"Fuck yes!"

"I knew they could do it!"

"What a game!"

"Whoa, did you see that play?!" Skills yelled out. "Beautiful baby, just beautiful."

Peyton had just walked into the apartment catching the boys midair after they had jumped out of their seats, cheering and hollering victoriously as they all high-fived each other for a job well done. With the way they were jumping and carrying around in the living room you'd think they had actually been playing the game themselves.

"Knock, knock." Peyton coughed out loudly trying to get their attention.

Lucas, Skills, Mouth, Fergie and Junk all froze instantly and turned their heads around, looking somewhat embarrassed that she had caught their little display.

"P. Sawyer, hey what's up girl? What a nice surprise." Skills was the first one to greet her followed by a round of hellos from the rest of Lucas' friends.

Lucas just silently looked over at his wife surprised that she was even here to begin with.

"The door was unlocked. I hope it was okay that I let myself in. I rang the bell, but guess you guys couldn't hear me over the game."

"Of course it's okay." Mouth quickly reassured her.

"You know you're always welcome here baby girl." Skills chimed in.

"Yea…why are you here anyway?" Fergie blindly blurted out without thinking. It was rare to see Lucas and Peyton in the same room these days.

Mouth, Skills and Junk silently glared over at Fergie at his stupidity.

"Sorry." Fergie muttered sheepishly after Junk discreetly gave his leg a good kick.

Peyton laughed it off. Truth was she was beginning to wonder herself why the hell she was here. "It's cool, really." She said before looking in Lucas' direction. "Actually I heard you were here and I was kind of hoping we could talk for a minute?"

Lucas slowly nodded. "Sure."

"You guys don't mind right?" Peyton questioned.

"No, not at all. We'll give you guys the room." Mouth stated as he began to usher the other men out the room.

"Oh no I didn't mean to kick you out or anything! This is your place. We can go outside and talk. I don't want to interrupt your game."

"Game's already over skinny girl." Skills informed her. "It's completely fine, you two talk."

"Thanks fellas I appreciate it." Lucas spoke gratefully.

"Oh Sawyer's outside waiting in the car if you guys wanna say hi?" Peyton suggested.

"Perfect." Skills replied as him and the rest of the guys hustled out of the apartment without another word.

"Sooooo…" Lucas said awkwardly as he stuffed his hands into his jeans. "You wanted to talk?"

Peyton nodded. "Yea about last night, if that's okay?"

Lucas' eyes slightly narrowed, a wary look appearing across his handsome features. He really had no desire to repeat last night's utter failure in communication. He was still licking his wounds from that one.

"No fighting." She reassured Lucas as she approached the couch and sat down. "I promise." She sat straight up with her hands clasped together across her lap feeling awkward as hell.

Lucas nodded. "Okay." He joined her on the couch.

Peyton took in a deep breath. "I'm here to apologize."

"Apologize?" Lucas blurted out skeptically hardly believing his own ears. He was usually the one handing out the apologies between the two.

"Yes." She confirmed choosing to ignore his dubious tone. "I lost my cool, but it's just sometimes Lucas you just make me so...argh –" Peyton immediately stopped herself from going further. She shook it off. "Nevermind…that. It's not important and it's not why I'm here." She was trying to deflate the situation not exacerbate it, and complaining about Lucas wasn't going to do her any favors.

"Why are you here then?"

"What I said about Sawyer and taking her away from you…that was out of line and I feel horrible about it. I was being a bitch and I'm sorry. I would never take her away from you, you know that right? You're kind of her favorite person in the whole world." She explained.

"What are you talking about? So are you." Lucas quickly added. "All she does is talk about you when she's with me."

Peyton shrugged. "No, you guys have a special bond that she and I don't share and that's okay. I've always loved that about you two, it's just like me and my dad. I love how much she looks up to you. You're a good father Lucas and she needs you in her life, just as much as I know you need her in yours." The blonde took in another deep breath. "But anyway…I just wanted to make that clear. I would never stoop that low as to keep you away from our daughter no matter how tense things between us get sometimes. She deserves to have both of us in her life. I just wanted you to know that."

"I know you would never do that." Lucas spoke quietly confirming. "But it really means a lot to hear you say it, so thank you. I think you're a good mom too you know, always have. Sawyer's lucky to have you Peyton."

Peyton watched him sigh as he ran a hand through his short hair.

"You don't have to thank me. It was just the right thing to do that's all." She said dismissively swallowing hard. She thought apologizing would instantly make her feel better, but there was no wave of relief that followed.

It was annoying really.

Life would be so much easier if she were one of those ex-wives that couldn't be bothered to give their ex-husbands a second thought.

But life was never meant to be easy.

"So is that it then? I mean I appreciate you coming to find me, but you could have just said this over the phone." He pointed out. "You didn't have to go through all the trouble. I know last night sucked, but I baited you into that fight just as much as you baited me." He sighed. "It was stupid of me to think you'd ever go for it and I knew that, but I did it anyway." He admitted. "I should have never asked. You and I…we've been doing really well lately and I want it to stay that way, especially for Sawyer. I don't wanna fight with you anymore Peyton. I'm just so…tired…tired of it all."

"Me too." She agreed.

"It's just sometimes I can't help but just hope you know? Hope that we can still work things out, but I'm not delusional or anything…I know it's over between us. There's no going back for us even though I'll never really be able to completely comprehend why. But I've accepted that."

Peyton closed her eyes, biting down hard on her bottom lip, silently willing herself not to fall apart and cry right in front of him.

She quickly coughed pushing away the small sob that threatened to escape past her throat. "Lucas, I didn't just come to apologize." She confessed. "I do want to help you despite everything. I don't feel good about the situation you're stuck in. It's been really bothering me actually."

"It's not your fault. It's my problem and I shouldn't have pulled you in. I'll figure it out okay? You don't have to worry about me."

"It's not your fault either." She quickly pointed out. "It's just the situation. It could just as easily be me in your shoes. If I write you a check right now would you please just take it? Please?"

Lucas quickly shook his head. "You know I can't do that." He gritted quietly.

"Can't or won't?" Peyton spat the accusation out at him.

"Doesn't matter. I'm not interested in taking your money."

"Stop being so stubborn, we both know that were the circumstances reversed you'd be shoving a check down my throat and wouldn't take no for an answer." Her green orbs narrowed over at him. "Am I wrong?" She challenged.

"That's different." Lucas grumbled in reply.

"Really? How so?" She mocked.

"Because I'm the man of the house. I'm your husband. I'm supposed to take care of you!"

"Because I'm a woman?!" Peyton roared as her nostrils flared up in annoyance. "You are such a sexist pig."

"Well you rolled around with this pig for nearly twenty years and you didn't seem to mind then." Lucas spat out bitterly.

Peyton scowled hard. "Oh my god you are such a….." She shook her head angrily. "Wait, what are we doing? Did we not just say we weren't gonna fight anymore! God." She dragged her delicate hands over her face and blew out a breath.

"You're right." His voice dropped down. "Sorry." He mumbled in a sigh.

"Couldn't you just ask Nate to cover you until you sort things out then? He's your brother Lucas, he'd be happy to help or you could stay with them if you're too embarrassed to ask for the money. They're family Lucas. They'd help you out no questions asked and you know that."

Lucas shook his head. "I'm not gonna do that Peyton. I just…can't, okay?"

"No one would judge you Lucas."

"Nope instead it would only confirm that I'm just the failure everyone already thinks I am."

"That's not true. No one thinks that." She argued.

"I failed you." He said sadly. "I failed you and Sawyer."

Peyton paused, her shoulders slumping in the process. "No." She whispered softly. "You and I…we failed each other." She corrected.

Lucas' eyes slowly widened as Peyton's words sunk in, his mouth slightly agape. This was probably the closest he had ever come to hearing her admit that she had played a part in the deterioration of their marriage or at least accept some sort of blame. His brain was screaming at him from the inside to press Peyton for more, to have her elaborate, but he knew better. It would only lead to a repeat of last night and he really was tired of fighting. It got them nowhere.

"I really wish you'd considering asking Nathan and Haley for help. I can't have this hanging over my head Lucas, this whole worrying about whether you're gonna be okay or not. I don't want this."

"I know." His head fell in defeat. "I'm sorry, but I just can't." He was too stubborn and was letting his pride get in the way.

Peyton huffed. He really wasn't giving her another choice here and Peyton slowly felt herself giving in. "How long?" She questioned after a long pause of silence.

"How long what?"

Another huff. "How long would you stay if – and that's a huge IF – I let you come back home, temporarily of course."

Lucas whipped his face back in her direction. "Are you being serious right now?"

"This is all hypothetical right now." She corrected. "How long?"

Lucas shrugged. "I don't…just until I sort everything out I guess, saved enough money."

Peyton shook her head. "You gotta do better than that. A month, two, three? I need a timeline Lucas."

"I dunno…six months?" He guessed not really sure.

"Six months?! No that's way too long."

"Five." Lucas negotiated.

"Four." Peyton countered.

"Fine." He replied accepting the offer.

"And what's your plan during this time?"

"Excuse me?"

"How are you going to support yourself? There has to be some sort of plan."

"I still have some money left and plus I am still receiving some residuals off all my books." He reminded her. It wasn't a hefty amount but it was still something.

"What else?"

"I'm working on a new idea for a book. I'm still getting it all together before I decide to pitch it. I have a good feeling about it getting picked up though. And also I kind of already have a job lined up in the meantime."

"Really?" She said skeptically. "What job?"

"Skills is in desperate need of an assistant coach to help him out with the Ravens. There's room for it in the budget, so he's gonna talk to the school about hiring me."

"You told Skills that you're broke?" Peyton asked surprised.

Lucas shook his head. "No he came to me actually asking if I was interested. The team hasn't won a championship in years. It's not like I haven't coached team sports before and hell I'd probably be playing pro now if it weren't for the HCM."

"Wow so you actually do have a plan then."

He really had thought this through.

"This is good Lucas."

He frowned. "Gee don't sound so surprised."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"So does this mean that…"

"Slow down there, we're still just talking here." She swiftly reminded him. "What do we tell Sawyer?" That right there was the trickiest part of all of this.

"I'm sure we can think of something plausible. We can talk to her next week after her Spelling Bee, go out for dinner or something together afterwards." He suggested.

Peyton nodded. "She would like that." It was only last night that her daughter had complained about the three of them not spending any time together with tears in her eyes. "But what exactly would we tell her Lucas? We can't have her thinking that this is some sort of sign that we're getting back together. I won't do that. This is gonna confuse the hell out of her."

"I'll think of something to tell her. I promise. Sawyer's a smart girl and we'll make sure she understands loud and clear."

Peyton sighed still not completely one hundred percent comfortable with the idea. "Okay." She replied hesitantly.

"What about everyone else, what are we gonna tell them?"

Peyton tucked her hair behind her ears. "Okay well I'd prefer if we didn't go around announcing it, but obviously they're gonna figure it out eventually, so I guess we'll have some excuse to give them when the time comes."

"Fair enough." Lucas conceded. "But you won't tell anyone about the money right?" He wondered looking sheepishly at her.

"I wouldn't do that." She reassured him. "That's your business to tell, not mine."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

"So…does this mean that I can come back home?" Lucas asked seeking confirmation. She hadn't outright said it yet.

Peyton blew out a breath before her face turned serious. "Lucas please _do not_ make me regret this. I'm helping you out because I want to. I don't need to help you and I'm not obligated to. You do get that right?"

"I know that Peyton."

"To be honest I still think this a horrible idea. The only reason I'm even considering this is because I know you would do the same for me. I know you'd be there for us if I really needed you to be, so please don't screw this up okay? And make sure to stick to our deal, four months that's it."

"Okay."

She blew out another breath. "Okay then." She stood up off the couch. "When are you moving out of your place?"

"End of the month."

She nodded. Thankfully that was still a couple of weeks away, giving her more time to mentally prepare herself for his arrival. "Okay we'll talk more about dates and details later."

"Sounds good."

"I'll see you next week." She waved him off and started moving towards the front door.

"Hey Peyton."

Peyton turned her head as she reached the front door. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

She responded with a curt nod before exiting the apartment. When the door shut behind her, she pressed her back against it immediately. She had come over to apologize for last night and somehow winded up with a new roommate instead. God she was so stupid. She didn't see this ending well at all. "What have I gotten myself into?" She whispered as she looked up at the ceiling.

* * *

"Did dad have my sweater?" Sawyer asked after they had said their goodbyes to the guys outside and Peyton had slid back into the car.

Peyton frowned. "I forgot to ask, sorry ladybug."

Sawyer sighed dramatically. "God you're such a spaz mom." She teased. "Can I run inside and ask daddy then?"

Peyton gave her a tired nod. "Make it fast, okay?" That conversation with Lucas had drained her completely and all she wanted right now was to finish off her glass of wine and crawl into bed for the night. Today needed to be over already.

Sawyer nodded and ran out of the car as fast as her skinny legs could take her.

* * *

Hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter! Let me know what you think!

And many thanks for all the love you guys keep sending and for being the absolute best!

Until next time.


	7. Abstract Reasoning

Reviews

 **S. Jamedra** – No it's totally fine that you're excited about Peyton changing her mind! I kind of needed her to in order for these two to be living under the same roof again!

 **Divine Lustre** – Well I'm glad I was able to deliver on some of things you were looking forward to with that last chapter. Wait until these two are finally living together, it's going to be hella interesting, I promise.

 **secondstarontheright** – Yea there's still a lot of love between those two in spite of everything, lots of emotional stuff going on.

 **thibbs65** – I definitely have a lot of good stuff planned for those two! Thanks for reviewing.

 **jordana60** – I'm glad you thought Peyton letting Lucas back home was plausible. I didn't want her to be bullied or tricked in to it. I thought Lucas having financial problem was the best way to go and it totally does happen in real life when couples are divorcing, money gets tight.

 **Tpassions** – Okay so if what happened isn't clear to you, then I'm thinking you may have skipped chapter 4 (the second part of Leyton's porch talk) or may not remember it. I would recommend going back and reading that as it lays everything out over what happened regarding Lucas' indiscretion. That should clear everything up for you! If not, send me a PM and we can discuss it all! Thanks!

 **simplyaprillyn** – I know you're dying to know more about Peyton and it will come eventually I promise! Lol

 **CDV86** – Honestly there are a lot of reasons I could have come up with in the case of Lucas refusing to take accept Peyton's financial help. But for this story and Luke's character, it's mostly pride and stubbornness that keep him from accepting that kind of help. He's a little traditional in the fact that he wants to be the one that provides and cares for his family. It really has nothing to do with Dan. His marriage with Peyton was nothing like Dan  & Deb's. Thanks for reviewing.

 **Guest** – Thanks for reading! I'm glad you love it so far.

 **Guest** – Thank you for review. We still have a couple more chapters before Lucas moves in, but it's coming.

* * *

Chapter 7: Abstract Reasoning

Lucas stirred from his spot on the bed, opening his tired eyes. A loud yawn tumbled past his lips shortly after. The door to the connecting bathroom in his bedroom abruptly swung open and he watched his girlfriend happily saunter into the bedroom, freshly showered and dressed, makeup done to perfection, while her damp, dark long locks swayed along with her every step.

Lucas grabbed his phone off the nightstand. He frowned noticing the time. "What are you doing up so early?" He wondered.

Brooke playfully sat down on the edge of the bed making it jump a little. "I've gotta get back to campus silly." She replied while reaching down to put on her boots.

Lucas sat up reaching an arm back to scratch the back of his neck. "Really? I thought you only had afternoon classes on Thursdays."

Brooke Davis was a student at the UNC Wilmington campus and in her final year. She was a fashion design major and was also minoring in business and marketing. In addition to being a student, she ran a tiny little self-made business aptly called B Davis Clothing. It was something she had started back in high school when she was eighteen, making dresses and things for her and her friends to wear just for fun. Pretty soon Brooke was receiving requests from other girls at her school, who were actually willing to pay for her clothes. Realizing the potential, the brunette created a dinky little website and launched her business. It was her dream and mission to turn B Davis Clothing into a major fashion line after college.

"I do, but I've got a study group later in the morning at 10:30." Brooke replied as she finished zipping up her boots. "I wanna leave now in case I hit traffic." She explained. Lucas' place was a little over an hour outside Wilmington. They usually took turns going back and forth visiting each other.

Lucas' hand shot out grabbing Brooke by the arm and roughly pulling her in his direction until she landed on top of him. He fell back on the bed taking her with him. "You sure I can't convince you to stay a little longer?" He said grinning while slipping a hand underneath her blouse and rubbing the side of her stomach.

Brooke giggled. "Don't you start that." She warned. "I really have to go Broody. I've got a huge midterm coming up for my European History class and that class has totally been kicking my ass. I was lucky enough to worm my way into this study session. All the super smart nerds from my class are in it."

Lucas laughed out loudly. "A little advice, you might not want to call the people who are going to help you study a bunch of nerds."

"I won't. At least not to their faces anyway." Brooke smirked.

"Brooke…"

"Geez I'm kidding!" She yelled out chuckling. "Besides I'm totally into nerds now. I am dating the hottest nerd of them all, an author after all. You're into old smelly books and it really doesn't get any nerdier than that."

Lucas smiled, dismissively shaking his head at her.

"It's also really hot when you wear those nerd square glasses of yours when you're reading too." She mumbled teasingly as she dropped her head and pressed their lips together.

Lucas wrapped his arms around her waist deepening the kiss. "You sure I can't convince you to stay in bed instead?"

"Nope." She replied dropping a quick kiss instead. "Not this time Broody."

The blond pouted.

"Hey so I'll be pretty much swamped this weekend studying for that test, but the weekend after that is pretty slow, so I was thinking we could spend it together." Being that she was busy with school and on top of that they didn't live in the same town, they didn't get to see each other every day or at least as often as Brooke would have liked.

"I can't." Lucas replied. "That's my weekend with Sawyer." As much as he liked hanging out with Brooke, giving up a weekend with his daughter wasn't something he took lightly. He had never canceled on Sawyer before and he wasn't about to start now. He cherished those weekends.

Brooke paused. "Oh. Right." She knew what that meant. She never saw Lucas at all during his weekends with his daughter. Lucas hadn't introduced them yet, but then again they hadn't been dating very long anyway. She also thought it was kind of sweet how excited Lucas got every time he got to see his kid. Brooke couldn't say the same about her own damn father that's for sure. Throwing money at her had always been much more his style.

He shot Brooke an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"No of course, it's cool. We can do another weekend." She quickly reassured him. Brooke really did admire Lucas' devotion to being a good father. He took parenting very seriously and that was one of things that had attracted her to Lucas the more she got to know him.

"Hey, I have an author buddy who has a cabin up in the woods that I know he doesn't use much. If you're up for it, I'm sure I can get him to lend it to me for a weekend. Could be nice just the two of us." Lucas offered.

Brooke's face lit up and nodded. "Just the two of us sounds perfect." She kissed him once more, showing her enthusiasm at the prospect. It would be their first couple's trip. It was kind of exciting.

"Great. I'll set it up then."

"Great." Brooke spoke, playfully mimicking his words.

"Sure you can't stay Cheery?" Lucas pressed again. He had been looking forward to having a little more fun this morning before working on his writing for the rest of the day.

Brooke chuckled, turning her face when he attempted to capture her lips again. "I really can't Lucas. Believe me I do, but I really need to get my ass in gear for this exam." She giggled when his lips made contact with her neck instead.

"C'mon you can make out with me for at least five minutes, can't you?"

The brunette grinned. "Five minutes." She relented. "But that's it mister. I mean it." She added rather authoritatively and poked him hard in the chest with her index finger.

"Whatever you say cutie." Lucas replied making Brooke squeal when he swiftly rolled their bodies until she was underneath him and her arms were possessively wrapped around his neck.

* * *

Peyton and Jamie both tilted their heads to the side, silently examining the painting in front of them.

Jamie Scott frowned. "It sucks doesn't it?" He finally spoke.

"I…well…" Peyton trailed off struggling to find any words of support.

Jamie groaned. He had just spent all Saturday afternoon working on his art project at Peyton's house. The assignment was to create something abstract. Not that he knew what the hell that meant anyway.

"Well it's not _terrible_ Jamie." She finally offered up instead.

"It's a hot mess Aunt Peyton. I mean just look at it. It looks like someone threw up on it."

"Well I mean don't they still give credit…for effort?" Peyton spoke attempting to appease her nephew. "I'm sure you'll still pass…" She added not so reassuringly.

Well at least she hoped he would pass. As much as she tried to assist Jamie today with his project, she had to admit that the boy didn't have an artistic bone in his body. He was kind of a hopeless case. Even Sawyer was a better painter at age five.

"I mean what's the point with this abstract shit anyway?"

"Hey language." Peyton scolded. "The last thing I need around here is Sawyer borrowing from that dirty mouth of yours." Jamie was much like his father and uncle had been at that age, completely foul-mouthed.

"My bad." He mumbled lowly.

"It'll be fine Jamie. We'll keep working on it." She reassured him.

Jamie blew out a breath. "I guess. Good thing it's not due for another week. I can come back tomorrow and we can try to fix it."

"Oh sweetie even I can't save this." Peyton bluntly informed him. "Let's start fresh tomorrow instead." She offered.

Jamie groaned again, his eyes still on his disaster of a project.

"Toss it." Peyton suggested. "It's gonna make you feel so much better." She teased. "In fact I think Lucas' hedge trimmers are still in the garage somewhere…"

Jamie burst out laughing. "You're so cool Aunt Peyton."

Peyton smiled. She knew most fifteen year old boys didn't go around advertizing out loud how cool their family was, out of principle of course, so she silently took the compliment choosing not to make a big deal out of it and embarrass the poor kid – though sometimes she did that too, only because she got a huge kick out of it.

Sawyer seemed to materialize out of thin air as she forcibly wedged herself between her mother and cousin so that she could get a look at Jamie's project. She frowned instantly, tilting her head to the side much like Peyton and Jamie had done earlier. "Is it supposed to look like that?" She blurted out, sounding and looking rather unimpressed.

Jamie turned his head down sending his little cousin a scowling look. He grumbled to himself, snatching the painting into his arms and headed out the house to dispose of it in the trash.

Sawyer looked up at her mother. "It wasn't supposed to look like that was it?" The child concluded.

"No baby." Peyton replied shaking her head. "It wasn't."

* * *

Peyton's eyes widened in surprise at the sight in front of her. "Oh…my." She managed to fumble past her lips after catching Jamie and his girlfriend kissing on her front porch. She had gone outside in search of Jamie, who had been taking quite a long time to simply toss out his painting. It made a lot more sense now after she had opened the front door of her house and was ambushed with their display of affection.

The two teens immediately broke apart. "Oh hey Aunt Peyton, funny seeing you here." He nervously joked.

Peyton scowled at her nephew.

"Hi Mrs. Scott." Jamie's girlfriend shyly greeted sending her a small wave. She was a cute little thing with a heart-shaped face, big dark chocolate brown eyes, and medium length jet black hair. Just like Jamie she was a sophomore at Tree Hill High.

"Hi Olive, Jamie didn't tell me you were stopping by." The blonde sent her nephew another look. "A word James Lucas Scott." Peyton beckoned him into the house with the use of her finger. She pulled him aside at once. "What is Olive doing here?" Peyton questioned unhappily.

"Mom won't let me see her." Jamie complained. "Or call her."

"Yeah because you're grounded remember?!" Peyton hissed quietly at him. The only reason Jamie had been allowed to leave the house today was to work on his project with Peyton. She was under strict orders to drive him back home afterwards.

"Yea but I thought…"

"Oh I _know_ what you thought, you thought you could sneak her over here behind my back and disrespect me in my own house, is that right Jamie?"

Jamie gulped. "Not necessarily…"

"Save it." Peyton sighed. "Answer me this, does it look like I have a death wish? You know damn well your mother would kill me if she thought I would just let you have your girlfriend over. But you bet your ass that after she got through with me, I'd definitely come back from the grave just to kick your ass."

"We're just hanging out…it's really not a big deal." The teenager defended.

Peyton paused in thought. "Hmmm, maybe I should just deliver that ass kicking right now instead?"

"C'MON Aunt Peyton." Jamie whined a little.

"Nope. Not happening." She refused. "I love Olive, but get rid of her. I'm taking you home right now."

"Please Aunt Peyton, I'm begging you. I've barely seen her all week."

"Jamie."

"Please." Jamie begged whipping out his best puppy dog eyes.

"Oh for crying out loud Jamie." Peyton rolled her eyes. "For the record that look hasn't worked since you were eight."

Jamie shrugged.

"You have an hour." Peyton informed him. "You can hang out on the porch and don't you dare get any ideas about leaving it. And I swear to god Jamie Scott there better be nothing else going on out there besides kissing or your ass is grass. Are we clear?"

Jamie's face broke into a grin. "Crystal." He nodded.

"And if your mother ever finds out about this, be sure that I'm taking you down with me."

"Fair enough." Jamie agreed. "See there's a reason why you're cool Aunt Peyton. Thanks." He quickly placed a peck on her cheek before practically skipping out of the house to rejoin Olive.

* * *

With Jamie outside tending to his girlfriend, Peyton was left alone to clean up all the art supplies they had used this afternoon. She was at the kitchen sink rinsing her paint brushes clean when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. The blonde turned her head back and was greeted by the sight her husband just smugly strolling into the house like he owned the place. Okay so he did technically own half of the property, but that still didn't explain why he was suddenly inside her house.

Lucas carried a large box in his hands. He set it down on the kitchen table. "Hey did you know that Jamie is out there on our porch eating that poor girl's face?" He casually spoke to Peyton as if it wasn't at all weird that he was standing in her kitchen.

Peyton's face scrunched up in confusion. "What the hell are you doing here?" She said incredulously. She already had one uninvited guest in her home today and she most certainly did not have room for a second.

She absolutely detested it when Lucas would just show up to the house unannounced. He had done that a lot when they first separated and it had caused a lot of arguments in the past. He didn't do it as much anymore, but Peyton was almost sure that these days when he did pop up around the house without warning, it was with the sole purpose of riling her up. He had loved annoying the shit out her for fun from the very first day they had met. Even at age thirty-five Lucas was still as juvenile as ever.

"Good afternoon to you too dear." Lucas drawled out as he propped an arm on top of the box he brought with him.

Peyton suspiciously eyed the box on her kitchen table. "Oh cut the crap." She went back to washing her paint brushes. "Seriously why are you here? And what's with the box?"

Lucas ignored her. "So anyway, I thought Jamie was grounded?"

"He is."

Lucas smirked. "Ah so you're helping him rebel against Haley's rules huh?" He questioned while wiggling his eyebrows at her. "Peyton Scott I am both shocked and appalled." He added while gasping dramatically.

"I did no such thing. Your little ass of a nephew thought he could sneak her around right under my own nose."

"Well gee you sure showed him." Lucas mocked.

Peyton turned back around and frowned. "Shut up. He's a teenager. He's gonna go sneak out and see her anyway whether we like it or not, so might as well keep a close eye on them here." She defended.

"Behind Haley's back of course." He teased.

"Well duh."

"Fair enough." Lucas shrugged. "But if they end up having sex on that porch I'm sure as hell not getting stuck cleaning it up."

Peyton's face dropped down in horror. "Oh my god, do you really think they're having sex already?" She hissed in a low voice. "Jamie's still a baby." She pouted unhappily at the thought.

Lucas shrugged again. "I have no idea, but with the way those two are going at it out there it's not that farfetched. We weren't that much older than Jamie when we first starting having sex."

Peyton's frown deepened. He was right.

"Oh god. The minute Sawyer enters high school she's not allowed to leave the house ever again."

Lucas nodded firmly. "Oh agreed. I plan on chaining her down to the floor." His face then broke out into a smile. "Remember the first time we had sex?"

Peyton blew out a breath. "God how could I forget it. I started crying right after. How embarrassing."

Lucas chuckled. "You were embarrassed? I was terrified. I thought I had hurt you or something from the way you cried. I didn't think you'd ever sleep with me again after that."

It had happened early on in their junior year of high school a few months after officially getting together. They had been at Peyton's place one day hanging out after school. It wasn't anything like Peyton imagined it would be. Not at all like you saw in movies and shit. It was awkward and losing it for the first time hurt like hell. Of course Lucas was in heaven and barely noticed how uncomfortable it was for her in that moment. It had been Lucas' first time too so neither of them knew what the hell they were really doing. And since it was his first time he didn't last that long either. It was pretty much over as soon as it began. When he had finished, Lucas had asked Peyton if she had liked it and instead of answering she had instantly burst into tears causing him to panic. A week passed by before they decided to try again and it was a few more tries after that before they finally got the hang of things and the sex got better.

Peyton chuckled along with him. "And if I hadn't?" She challenged.

"Oh please like you could have possibly stayed away from this body for long. If I remember correctly you were the one who dragged me off to do it every chance we got once the sex got better." He cheekily mused.

"Shut up." Peyton mumbled dismissively. "Anyway what's in the box?" She questioned yet again, not forgetting that he had failed to answer the question the first time around.

"Oh this?" Lucas nonchalantly patted the top of the box. "Well since I planned on being in town today anyway, thought I might as well should start bringing my stuff over."

The brushes in Peyton's hands clanked hard against the sink after dropping them. She slowly turned back around. "You thought you could just start moving yourself in without telling me? Lucas we haven't even told Sawyer yet!" She quietly scolded making sure to keep her voice down. "And on top of that you decided to just waltz in with your crap when Jamie can see you! I'm not ready for everyone to know yet!"

"Oh trust me that kid barely noticed my presence. In fact I'm pretty sure one of us should go out there in about a minute to administer CPR on those two." Lucas quipped. "Not it." He quickly added with a smirk.

"You should have checked in with me first." Peyton said irritability. Leave it to Lucas to make everything a joke.

"I could have, but isn't it more fun this way? The element of surprise and all."

Peyton groaned and went back to her brushes. "Just go put away your stupid box in the guest room before Sawyer sees you."

"Yes ma'am." Lucas playfully saluted his wife and exited the kitchen with his things.

About twenty seconds later she heard him come back into the kitchen and exit through the back door. He reappeared about a minute later no doubt with another stupid box before disappearing down the hall again.

"Hey mom can we have pizza for dinner tonight?" Sawyer popped into the kitchen to ask. She almost forgot her question as her eyes lit up when Lucas walked back into the kitchen. "Dad!" She raced over to him for a hug.

"Hey squirt." Lucas greeted kissing the top of her head.

"I didn't know you coming over. What are you doing here?" She questioned.

Peyton turned to her husband sending him a knowing look. She was curious at whatever fib it was that he was about to pull out of his ass.

"Oh just stopping by. I'm hanging out with Uncle Nathan and Aunt Haley today, so I'm just grabbing Jamie on my way there."

Damn he was good. Peyton had to admit that.

Sawyer nodded. "Cool. Can you hang out a bit though before you leave?"

"Are you kidding? For you, of course I can." Lucas replied. "But first can you give mom and me the room for a minute?"

"Sure. I'm just watching TV in the living room."

"Okay, be there in a sec." Lucas promised as he watched his daughter exit the kitchen. "See? In and out like a ninja, nothing to worry about."

"Yeah well this will be the last time you pull this little stunt again. No more dropping off boxes until we talk to Sawyer next week okay?"

"Alright, alright, you don't have to be such a grouch about it."

"Remind me again why I'm letting you move back in?" Peyton said sarcastically.

"Pity mostly I gather." Lucas quickly quipped.

"And here I thought it was temporary loss of sanity."

Lucas shrugged. "Egh whatever works, I'll take it."

* * *

"Well you sure are in a good mood today." Haley pointed out suspiciously. Lucas had shown up at her house with a smile that wouldn't quit.

"Well what can I say Hales…" Lucas stretched his arms up and proceeded to fold them behind his head. "Life is good."

Nathan appeared with three beers. He passed a bottle to his brother before taking a seat next to his wife and handing over her drink as well. "What's all this nonsense now?" He teased.

"Apparently your brother is living on top of the world these days." Haley quipped as she snuggled closer into Nathan's side.

Nathan chuckled. "You are looking a little soft these days."

Lucas raised his hand giving his brother the finger.

"So what's got you all happy-go-lucky these days then? That new girlfriend of yours?" Nathan guessed.

Haley slightly choked on her beer. "Please spare me the details if that's the case."

"Oh c'mon Hales you don't even know her." But honestly it wasn't Brooke that had him whistling a happy tune these days, but it had everything to do with the fact that he was finally moving back home with his family, despite the odd circumstances surrounding it. Even if him and Peyton weren't back together it was still an amazing feeling to know he was coming back home.

But of course he wasn't allowed to tell anyone that just yet.

"I'm sure she's a perfectly fine young lady Lucas, but regardless she's twenty-one and it's a little creepy." Haley replied.

"And you're old as dirt." Nathan quickly added.

"She's very mature for her age and we have fun together. I like her." Lucas defended. "I mean c'mon it's not that creepy." He looked over at Nathan for some backup.

"It's a little creepy man." Nathan admitted. "She's busy majoring in keg stands, while you're tucking in your kid at night."

Haley giggled.

"Wow, thanks guys, my mood has just skyrocketed with you two around." Lucas said deadpanned.

"Oh you know I want nothing more than to see you happy Luke. I really do." Haley said reassuringly. "Can't you just do it with someone a little more age appropriate? I mean surely there's a dating site or something you can join if you're having trouble meeting someone new…"

Nathan turned his face hiding behind Haley, his poor attempt at muffling his laughter.

Lucas scowled slightly insulted. He narrowed his eyes. "I'm good Hales, thanks." He bit out.

"It was just a suggestion." Haley mumbled awkwardly before taking a long swig of her beer. "Quinn's doing online dating and she loves it."

"Oh well that's reassuring." Lucas mocked. "Let me just go ahead and follow in the footsteps of a serial dater."

Haley frowned but said nothing. It was true. Quinn hadn't been in a serious relationship in years and she seemed to have a new guy on her arm every few weeks or so. Plus she had never married, not that there was anything wrong with that.

"Besides I'm perfectly happy in my current relationship. It's fun, and light, and not too serious. So relax Hales, it's not like I'm looking to marry the girl or anything. We have an understanding."

Haley surrendered. "Alright, alright. I get it. I'll back off. As long as you're happy I guess."

"I am."

"So…" Nathan began. "You think you can score us an invite to the next kegger?" He joked.

The scowl on Lucas' face returned. "You're a dick."

* * *

Thanks for reading everyone! Please share your thoughts!


	8. Revelations

Reviews

 **Kb** – Thank you so much! Grateful for your super kind words. Thanks for sticking with me.

 **Divine Lustre** – Yes, I think it's pretty obvious that despite being in another relationship at the moment, Lucas still loves Peyton very much. He never wanted the divorce in the first place and eventually he felt like he had to move on. You'll get some insight on that in this chapter.

 **Guest** – I'm sorry you're hating Luke right now, but this is a Leyton story so they are endgame!

 **Guest** – Lol, so yea Peyton was a bit harsh with Lucas in that last chapter, but it's mostly because she feels like he's not taking any of this seriously, and he also likes riling her up for fun, something she's been dealing with since they were teens. So naturally she's a little annoyed that he just waltzed in her house like it was no big deal. He's still not so good at respecting boundaries now that they're separated.

 **Tpassions** – Well thanks so much for always taking the time out to read and comment. I love getting to provide any extra bit of info I can about these characters. I'm glad you liked the Peyton/Jamie relationship, it's not really something that was explored on the show or in most fics, so I'm looking forward to exploring that here. I think it has great potential.

 **Guest** – lol, well thanks for powering through the chapter despite the Brucas! This is still a Leyton story so just hang in there. They'll be living together soon enough, so plenty of more Leyton scenes to come.

 **Shazzle** – All I can say is just be patient! I think you'll be please with all the things I have planned for this story. Thanks for much for your kind words and support. I not only write these stories for me, but for you lovely readers as well.

 **Destiana. Caldin** – I can definitely promise you more tension once those two are living together, some bad and some good.

 **Guest** – Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading!

 **simplyaprillyn** – Thanks April! Yea I got a good laugh when thinking up the whole 'Jamie sucking face on the porch scene' too. More of the Lucas and Brooke's relationship will be revealed in this chapter.

 **secondstarontheright** – Yea Brooke in this story is very circa high school. She's fun, she's carefree, but she's also not one to be messed with. And I'm so glad you found the whole Peyton/Lucas box scene relatable. You obviously know I'm not married myself, so sometimes I go back and forth on story ideas on whether or not they're realistic married couple scenarios, lol.

* * *

Okay so just a quick a/n since there was a lot of reaction on the last chapter, more particularly the Brucas, and it just makes more sense for me to address it all in one note rather than address everyone individually. I know some of you guys aren't particularly thrilled with Lucas being 'all happy' with someone else and that's totally cool (I always love to read your honest thoughts), but just remember guys that everything isn't always what it seems! It's a lot more complicated than that and you'll be learning more about all that along the way.

And just like I've already given you guys some scenes of what Peyton's day-to-day life is like without Lucas, I thought it was really important to show Lucas' home life as well. I'm trying to show you guys both sides of the coin and not make it a Lucas versus Peyton thing here. In this story they've been badly burned by each other and their still dealing with it in their own ways. But don't fret guys this is still a Leyton story and that hasn't changed, and like I already mentioned earlier on a few chapters ago Brooke is not a main/supporting character in this story considering the age difference, location, and the fact that she's not at all intertwined in the lives of anyone else (except Luke of course). This isn't some Brooke/Lucas/Peyton love triangle. It's really not my style and it's been overdone. Brooke and Peyton don't even know each other here and I hate pitting them against each other in that way in general. Anyway that's pretty much it! Keep those comments coming guys!

* * *

Chapter 8: Revelations

Lucas weaves his way through the crowd, his head turning in every direction until he finally spots Peyton. She's standing right outside of the school's auditorium. He heads in her direction. His wife looks different, he almost hadn't recognized her. "Hey! Sorry I'm late, traffic was a bitch." He greets Peyton as he approaches, and without thinking he quickly leans over and plants a kiss over her cheek. He pulls away just as quickly, his eyes snapping shut as he curses underneath his breath because he knows he's just made things awkward. It wasn't how they typically greeted each other – at least not since the separation.

Peyton momentarily freezes in place, her eyes briefly widening before she quickly recomposes herself, crossing her arms in front of her protectively.

Lucas gauges her reaction, fighting the urge to smile. It isn't often that he's able to catch her off guard. Most of the time she chooses to be tense and terse around him. She's always on her toes in his presence, like she's expecting him to come out and hurt her again like before.

And he hates it.

He hates that she doesn't act like herself around him anymore. Most of their interactions seem like polite business transactions and he's hoping that their new living arrangement will be the start of the end of all that.

He misses her so much. They've been separated for over a year now, but he still misses her and moving on hasn't been easy. If he's being completely honest he really hasn't been able to move on completely. He still wants her even though she's made it crystal clear that she's done with him.

Peyton released a small cough, shaking the innocent kiss off. "You're right on time. I think it's gonna be a couple more minutes before they start. I saved us some seats in the front, threw my coat over them." Today was Sawyer's spelling bee and afterwards they were going out to dinner together to disclose to their daughter that Lucas would be moving back into the house.

"Great." Lucas replied. "You changed your hair." He finally pointed out.

Peyton nodded. She finally got around to hitting up her hairdresser. Her locks were freshly cut and she did away with the dark blonde-brownish color, returning to her lighter signature blonde. "I got bored."

"You look really nice." He complimented. Her hair looked good in any color, but this had always been his favorite.

"Thanks." She mumbled back giving Lucas a shy smile while shrugging her shoulders.

"So you're okay with what we discussed about how we're telling Sawyer right?"

Peyton nodded. "Yea it'll have to do. I don't want her worrying about you and the money. It's not fair to her. It's just best we stick to the story you came up with."

"Okay good, I was just double checking."

"We still haven't sorted out the house finances." She reminded him.

"I already told you that I'll keep covering the mortgage."

"I'm no longer comfortable with that, in fact I never was, but you're far too stubborn for your own good Lucas."

"Look who's talking." Lucas muttered.

Peyton sighed. "I'll pay the mortgage, that way you can save more money before you move out again."

"No way."

"Well I'm not letting you pay it all on your own, we'll split it then." She offered.

"No way."

"That's not a negotiable offer Lucas, either we split it or you can't move in."

Lucas clenched his teeth in frustration. She always made it seem like it was the worst thing in the world that he wanted to continue to take care of his family. "Fine." He grumbled unhappily. "What about the other house bills? Utilities and stuff."

"I'll continue to cover those." The blonde stated.

"No way, we're splitting those too then."

Peyton rolled her eyes. The whole point of Lucas moving back home was for him to able to get comfortably back on his feet. "Fine." She relented practically mimicking his grumbling. She figured it wasn't worth the argument.

"Well that was easier than I thought." Lucas mused with a small smile. "A fair and diplomatic negotiation."

Peyton snorted. "How do you figure that?"

"Because neither one of us is hundred percent happy with the outcome. Those are the best kind of negotiations. At least that's what the politicians say." Lucas teased.

Peyton paused trying her best not to crack a smile. Her attempts were futile however as she watched Lucas' grin grow in size. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and eventually a tiny chuckle escaped Peyton's lips. "There's one more thing…"

Lucas sighed as he watched her face lose the smile and take on a more serious pose. "What is it?"

"That girl…" She paused before blowing out a deep breath. "The woman that you're seeing…I don't want her in my home. Ever. Whatever your life is outside of the house is your business. I just need you to respect those boundaries at home with our daughter. Is that clear?" Peyton didn't bother offering an explanation because in her opinion it really wasn't necessary. It was pretty self-explanatory.

"I would never. Ever." Lucas replied looking straight into Peyton's green orbs. "You have my word." He promised. Even if Peyton hadn't brought it up, Lucas knew better than to do something that stupid.

Peyton gave him a firm nod of the head, grateful that they had an understanding as awkward as it was to be discussing the subject of her husband's new girlfriend. "We better head inside and take our seats. Looks like it's starting." She told him noticing the lights from inside the auditorium had dimmed.

* * *

Out of the fifteen spelling bee contestants Sawyer had placed in sixth. She had tripped up on the word _stratification_. After the spelling bee they had headed over to _Cosmic Shack_ , a burger and shake joint by the water that was Sawyer's favorite. It was the first time the three of them had sat down for dinner as a family since the split and it was surprisingly not awkward at all. Sawyer in particular had been in a good mood the entire meal despite her loss in the competition.

"You really did an awesome job up there today monkey. I'm proud of you." Lucas told his daughter while they waited on the sundaes they had ordered for dessert.

"Thanks daddy."

Peyton and Lucas shared a look figuring this was as good a time as any to tell their daughter.

"So babe, Dad and I have something really important to tell you."

Sawyer looked over suspiciously at both her parents. "Is it something bad?" She swallowed hard hoping it wasn't. The last time the three of them sat down to talk about something important was when her parents had informed her that they were separating.

"No." Peyton immediately replied. "Nothing bad we promise." Lucas sent his daughter a reassuring nod.

"How would you feel about us spending a lot more time together than we usually do?" Lucas questioned.

"Okay I guess…" Sawyer replied confused, having no idea where this was heading.

"My apartment is being renovated and I have to move out for a few months, and I asked mom if it was okay if I moved back home for a little while until then and she said yes."

Sawyer's mouth dropped, forming an O-shape. She immediately whipped her head towards her mother. "Is that true?!" She exclaimed loudly surprised that her mother would even agree to that.

Peyton nodded. "Yes. Dad's gonna stay in the guest room temporarily. Are you okay with that?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING? OF COURSE I'M OKAY WITH THAT! DUH!" Sawyer exclaimed once more, this time throwing her hands in the air. The excitement in her voice was unmistakable.

Lucas chuckled. "Sweetheart calm down, you're startling the other customers." He teased.

Peyton laughed shaking her head. "Well I'm glad you're excited, but it's important that you understand that this is only for a little while. In a few months Dad is going to move out again and go back to his own place. The reason dad is coming back home isn't because we're getting back together. He just needs a place to stay for the time being. Does that make sense?"

Sawyer lips formed a sad smile, but she nodded in understanding. "But the three of us will still be together right? No more every other weekend type stuff?"

"We will. For a little while at least." Lucas confirmed. "We'll get to spend a lot more time together these next few months."

Sawyer grinned. "When are you coming home dad?"

* * *

After saying goodbye to Lucas in the parking lot of the restaurant, Peyton and Sawyer walked towards their car. When they reached the car Peyton felt that her daughter's arms were suddenly around her waist. Sawyer delivered the tightest hug she could muster.

Peyton hugged her back. "What was that for?" She questioned with her little girl still in her arms.

Sawyer looked up at her mother. "You kept your promise." She replied. "About the three of us spending more time together as a family. I didn't think you would." The blonde coyly admitted.

Peyton dropped her head kissing the top of Sawyer's head. "I didn't think I could either." She admitted after a beat. "But honey this is just temporary. I really need you to understand that ladybug. Dad living with us…it's not forever. We're just helping him out."

Sawyer nodded. "I know that. I don't care." She understood that the divorce was still happening. "Thanks for keeping your promise mom. I'm happy daddy's coming home even if it's just for a little while. I like it when it's just the three of us sometimes."

Peyton smiled hugging her daughter once more. She'd been having constant doubts on whether letting Lucas back home had been the right move, but it wasn't until now that she was sure she had made the right decision. She could handle four months of Lucas under the same roof if it meant getting to see her kid this deliriously happy. It would be worth it.

* * *

A few days later Lucas was in his apartment sitting at the dining table. He was on his laptop working on his newest story pitch for his editor. Sitting across from him at the table was Brooke, who was also at work creating some sketches for one of her design courses.

"Broody, what do you think about the name Clothes Over Bros?" Brooke spoke up breaking the silence.

Lucas looked up past his computer. "Huh?"

"I'm thinking of rebranding B Davis Clothing." Brooke explained. "Give it a little more flair, make it a little less dull. I want the line to really pop and I think the name should too. I need something catchy and unforgettable. You know I was at a party the other night with my sorority sisters, and well yea we were drunk okay…BUT one of them just came up with the name Clothes Over Bros." She looked over at Lucas with a giant grin. "And I think I kind of like it…it's so me."

"Okay?" Lucas said uncertain.

"So what do you think?" She questioned once more impatiently.

Honestly to him the name sounded quite juvenile, but what the hell did he know about women's clothing? He wasn't exactly the demographic target of Brooke's clothing line anyway. "If you think it sounds great then I'm sure it's great babe." Lucas replied diplomatically.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "You're no help." She said dismissively going right back to her sketch.

Lucas chuckled and went back to his computer. If you had told him a year ago that he'd end up dating someone like Brooke, well… he wouldn't have really believed it. Getting together with Brooke hadn't been planned. He hadn't been looking to date anyone to begin with, especially not anyone as young as her. He wasn't surprised that everyone probably thought he had been trolling around the Wilmington campus for college girls, but that hadn't been the case at all. She sort of just stumbled into his life – quite literally actually. He had first met Brooke a few months ago during the summer at some local dive bar in downtown Wilmington. He was there having drinks with his friend Chase Adams, an old buddy from his college days. Some time past midnight Brooke and her entourage of sorority sisters had stumbled into the bar already quite heavily intoxicated celebrating her twenty-first birthday. She had announced to the bar that she was officially legal to drink, but that was already pretty apparent to everyone at the bar considering she was wearing a giant pink frilly crown with the numbers 21 on it. The hideous crown was absolutely hilarious giving Lucas and Chase a good laugh as they continued to reminisce about their time in college. When the group of girls approached the bartender, the boys decided to buy them a round of shots and an additional drink for the birthday girl.

Brooke had immediately taken a liking to Lucas and approached him several times that evening, shamelessly flirting with him. He had humored her since it was her birthday after all, while still keeping it friendly at the same time. He really wasn't the least bit interested in pursuing it. At the time he and Peyton had been separated for nine months and he was still adjusting to life as a single man after being off the market for nearly twenty years. He wasn't in the mindset yet to talk to any woman and also Brooke was far too young for his liking. The age difference had creeped him out too in the beginning. At one point Brooke and her girls had pulled Lucas and Chase out to the dance floor and after one dance the men officially decided to call it night. They bid the ladies goodnight and had a good laugh on their way out of the bar.

Imagine Lucas' surprise the next day when he received a text message from Brooke of all people. Somehow she had managed to plug her number into his phone when he wasn't looking. She texted thanking him for the drinks and how much fun she had last night. Lucas replied back with a simple _you're welcome_ and wished her a happy birthday again and he left it at that. Later in the week she would end up texting him a couple more times to see how he was doing. He ignored the texts having no desire to head down that road and eventually Brooke took the hint and ceased contact. And that was pretty much supposed to be the end of that.

Then two months later Peyton told him that she was going forward with the divorce once they hit the required one year separation. That was only a month away and Lucas hadn't taken it well at all. He never thought that she would actually have the balls to go through with it. He still thought they'd somehow find their way back to each other. He didn't want the divorce, but Peyton insisted that it was time for the both of them to move on. He needed to let her go, just like she had done months ago. He wouldn't even be able to describe the anger that coursed through his veins in that moment, wave after wave of emotions just colliding against his already bruised heart. That same night Peyton had informed him about the divorce, Lucas got in his car and headed straight for the bar. His plan was to drink until he couldn't see straight and hell if Peyton was so determined to see him move on then maybe he would pick up someone at the bar too.

He ended up at this bar somewhere between his place and Wilmington. Brooke happened to be there as well. She noticed him first and she approached him at the bar, saying hello and even remembering his name, and then she ended up ditching her friends and grabbing a table with him and they got really drunk. That night was kind of a blur for the both of them. Brooke ended up going back home with him and the next morning he woke up with one of the worst hangovers known to man and a sleeping beauty next to him that he prayed wasn't the clingy type. Up until then Peyton was the only woman he had ever slept with so that morning was a little surreal for him. Much to his surprise Brooke actually turned out to be really chill. When she woke up they went out for brunch, nursing their hangovers over greasy food and lots of water and coffee. Over that meal they got to know each other a little bit more and she ended up going back to his apartment and they hooked up again. After that he drove her back to the bar where she had abandoned her car the night before. They exchanged numbers and goodbyes, and honestly Lucas hadn't planned on seeing Brooke after that. He liked her well enough, but the age difference still bugged him and he preferred to leave it as a onetime thing. After all it had been a really poor attempt to finally get Peyton out of his system (which obviously hadn't worked) and he was still really bitter about the divorce.

Yet it was three months later and somehow he was still seeing Brooke. The first two months were super casual. They'd get together every now and then and have dinner or go out for drinks, and most of those nights usually ended up with her staying over at his place because honestly there was no way in hell he was going to spend the night at a sorority house. By the third month they decided to be exclusive and that was pretty much it. Lucas hadn't expected to end up liking Brooke as much as he did. She definitely wasn't your average twenty-one year old. Even though she was still in college, Brooke was extremely mature for her age, she was goal-orientated, and had accomplished way more than he had at that age. Sure she had her moments where her youth showed and he couldn't help but roll his eyes, but he really couldn't fault her for that. She was in her early twenties and she was supposed to act her age. What he couldn't understand was why someone as gorgeous as her with a good head on her shoulders wanted anything to do with someone as old as him. She could have anyone she wanted and Lucas was fairly certain there wasn't a lack of male suitors at her university lusting after her.

You'd have to be blind in order not to notice whenever Brooke Davis walked into a room. She was drop dead gorgeous and had this infectious energy that seemed to pull in everyone around her. In looks she was the exact opposite of Peyton. Her hair was longer, darker and straighter, her eyes were this amazing shade of hazel, she was a lot shorter than Peyton and their styles in clothing differed as well. And maybe that's why Lucas was attracted to Brooke so much, because she was nothing like Peyton or she was everything that Peyton no longer cared to be, at least not with him anyway. Brooke was exciting, funny, spontaneous and she had this feisty attitude that gave him a run for his money. It was never boring with her, she always kept things light and fun. Once upon a time Peyton had been all those things and somewhere along the way those parts of her had faded considerably during the last few months of their marriage when she started pulling away from him. And now it was Brooke, not Peyton, who was there to pick him up when he was feeling down. She was there encouraging him not to give up on his writing when he had been producing nothing but shit lately. Brooke was kind and caring, and genuinely interested in his life and his work. She was the one laughing at his jokes and whispering sexy things in his ear, and making him feel wanted, something he hadn't felt in over a year once things had started to go south with Peyton.

He had a lot of baggage and he had been honest with Brooke from the very beginning, but she didn't seem to mind the fact that he had a kid and had a very complicated relationship with his soon to be ex-wife. Brooke was good to him and Lucas tried his best to be a good boyfriend. He supported and encouraged her homemade-business and he even pushed her harder to do better in school. Brooke wasn't exactly the greatest student. When it came to any of her courses related to fashion and design she excelled, but she never put in the same amount of effort with all her other classes which she found boring and useless. But Lucas encouraged her to study more and he would help her go over her papers or review and discuss her readings for classes. She was becoming more disciplined in her school work thanks to him and Brooke found that she kind of liked it. They were sort of a good team.

"Crap is that really the time?!" Brooke announced suddenly. "I've gotta get the hell out of here." She stood up and started frantically collecting her things.

"What's the rush?" Lucas wondered.

"I've got that mixer I'm hosting with our brother fraternity later tonight. I've gotta make sure everything is all set." Brooke was the social chair of her sorority and there was nothing Brooke Davis loved more than planning and throwing together a kickass party, with the exception of making clothes of course. Lucas was convinced that if Brooke didn't manage to break through the fashion industry, she still had a promising future in event planning. In the short time he had known her, she had planned more events than he could keep count. She was always throwing together some type of event. Last week she had organized this Greek life charity run for kids with cancer. He had no clue how she found the time between that, making clothes for her business, and school. She was a fucking machine.

"Right."

"You could come you know…" She told Lucas with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Babe…" Lucas said while sporting an incredulous look. There was no way he was spending his evening hanging out with a bunch of drunk college kids and Brooke knew that.

"We don't have to tell anyone that you're super old." She playfully teased with a grin. "You don't even look thirty-five." At this point Lucas had only met a handful of her friends and very briefly. She knew he wasn't exactly comfortable with it, god knows it had taken her forever to convince him that their age difference shouldn't get in the way of them dating, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I'm sorry Brooke, you know I really like spending time with you, but I'm not doing that."

Brooke blew out a breath, her shoulders sagging. "Figured it didn't hurt to try."

Lucas got up from his seat and made his way towards her. He placed a soft kiss over her lips. "You mad at me?"

Brooke shook her head. "No, I get it." She said softly. "I know it's not exactly easy for us. God I haven't even told my parents yet."

Lucas fought the urge to cringe on the outside. It was way too early for that kind of talk and he still hadn't told Brooke that he was moving back in with Peyton. Better now then later he guessed. He had already started packing up a few things and was surprised she hadn't noticed. "Listen we need to talk." He said taking a small step back from her.

"Sure, about what?" Brooke replied as she tucked her long hair behind her ears and resumed gathering her things into her bag.

"I've actually decided to move out of here at the end of the month." He revealed.

"Really? I thought you loved this place." She said as she shuffled some things around in her bag to make more room.

"Yea, but it's getting expensive and I want to start saving a little more." He replied. It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a straight out lie either. "And I've actually got this job lined up and if it works out, it just makes more sense for me to move closer to work."

"You've got a job?" She looked up at him from her bag. "You've never said anything."

"It's not a done deal yet, but I might start coaching high school basketball in Tree Hill, my alma mater."

"Wait you're moving back to Tree Hill?" If he didn't have her full attention before he did now.

"Yes."

"Lucas that's like an additional hour's drive away from where you live now. Why are you just telling me about this now?"

"It all just happened really fast."

"Have you started looking for a place?"

"I have a place to stay." Lucas admitted.

"Okay…care to elaborate?" She snapped in annoyance. This whole cryptic act he had going on was starting to get on her nerves.

Lucas took in a deep breath before sighing. "Okay don't be mad, but I'm actually gonna go back home for a bit. Peyton's gonna let me—"

"I'm sorry what?!" Brooke exclaimed cutting him off. "You mean back home as in back home with your ex-wife?!"

Technically Peyton was still his wife, but Lucas knew better than to correct his girlfriend right now.

"It's not a big deal. There's a spare bedroom I'll be staying in for a bit and then I'll get my own place." He tried to explain.

"Not a big deal? Have you lost your goddamn mind? Because all this sounds absolutely crazy to me and how dare you just casually throw that into conversation like it's no big deal. Like I'd just be totally cool with that. Do I look an idiot?" Brooke scoffed angrily. This was so fucked up. "Are you two back together?" She instantly accused. It was the only reasonable explanation, otherwise why would someone just willingly move back in with the person they're about to divorce.

"Brooke calm down."

"You have some real nerve Lucas, don't you tell me to calm down. Have you been fucking her behind my back?"

Lucas' face dropped. "What? No! There is nothing going on between me and Peyton. I swear to you. I'm just crashing in the guest bedroom and I get to be closer to my daughter, that's it."

Brooke narrowed her eyes at Lucas. "Well there's no way in hell I'm driving all the way to Tree Hill to see your ass, that's for sure."

Lucas visibly cringed this time and Brooke noticed.

"What?" She demanded.

Lucas sighed. "You can't come by." He finally confessed. "Ever. That was the deal."

"She finally knows about me?"

Lucas nodded. "She does."

"Oh…well good." Brooke hissed. "I was starting to think you were never going to tell anyone about us."

"I've told people…" Lucas trailed off.

"Oh bullshit, your brother doesn't count, who by the way I still haven't met or any of your friends for that matter."

Lucas sighed again. "Can we not do this right now, please?"

Brooke's mouth twisted angrily as she shook her head at him. "Lucas I barely see you enough as it is. How the hell is this supposed to work?"

"We'll figure it out."

"You're moving back in with the woman you are currently in the middle of a divorce with! How is any of this okay? How do you not see that? This is really weird and fucked up." She shook her head again at him. "I knew you weren't over her. I just knew it! God I am such a fucking idiot. I don't know what the hell I was thinking!"

"I'll come to you." Lucas reassured her. "Or we could meet half way sometimes." He offered.

"WOW…you're an asshole. And here I thought older guys were supposed to be more mature, but you really are no better than the skeevy frat boys that hit on me back at school. I don't know what kind of fool you take me for Lucas Scott, but I am not one to be messed with." Brooke angrily turned on her heels, grabbing her bag before storming off.

"Pretty girl." Lucas called out following after her. "Please let's just talk about this." He pleaded.

"Have a nice life Lucas." Brooke spat out as she made her way out of his apartment. She didn't bother looking back, slamming the door shut behind her before Lucas could reach her.

"Fuck."

Well that didn't go well at all.

* * *

Another chapter down! Please share your thoughts guys and review!

Until next time.


	9. I Want You To Want Me

Reviews

 **breathlovebooks –** Thank you!

 **Guest** \- The suggestion of a Brucas baby in this story is certainly interesting to say the least. I'll just leave it at that, lol.

 **simplyaprillyn –** Remember that Brooke has no idea about Lucas' financial situation. She's in the dark about that. The only person he has disclosed that to is Peyton and sort of Nathan when Lucas borrowed money from him in the past. So from her perspective he's just shacking up with his ex out of nowhere.

 **Guest** \- I don't think Lucas is really trying to compare his 20 year old relationship with Peyton to his new relationship with Brooke. Lucas has been pretty open about the fact that he still loves and wants Peyton, but if someone tells you repeatedly that it's over you kind of have no choice but to move on. In this story I don't consider Brooke to be the "other woman". She's really not. Lucas and Peyton had been separated for a year before they got involved so Brooke did not "steal" Lucas away or wreck their marriage in any shape or form. She simply just met a guy at a bar that she liked and decided to go for it, whether or not it was smart to get involved with a man currently going through a divorce is a different story. Thanks for your detailed input, I love it and I can't thank you enough!

 **Tpassions** \- Well Lucas better certainly hope that Brooke wouldn't be that petty and just show up at the house, otherwise he'd definitely be in some deep shit with Peyton. HA! Thanks for reading.

 **kookie2 –** Glad you liked it, thanks!

 **Guest** \- Yea Lucas could have handled that reveal a lot better. It's understandable why Brooke's upset.

 **Guest –** Lucas isn't in denial about missing his family. He's been pretty vocal about it, but he can't exactly force Peyton to be with him again.

 **thibbs65 -** Thank you!

 **jordana60 –** Lol yes I promise this is still a Leyton fic! Hang in there with me please.

 **Shazzles** \- You are such a sweetheart, thank you so much for the support!

 **secondstarontheright –** Lol yep Brooke was not having it. I kind of love that she put him in his place.

 **Guest** \- I appreciate the enthusiasm.

 **Guest** \- Brooke doesn't have 'daddy issues', she just got involved with a man she really liked that has far too many personal issues. If anything she probably just underestimated how complicated those issues could get since Lucas has done a pretty good job of keeping his family life separate from his relationship with Brooke. Thanks for reading!

 **Destiana. Caldin** \- Yea I loved throwing that little moment in with Leyton at the spelling bee, especially since it's usually very tense between them.

* * *

 **A/N:** So technically this story is still on hiatus since I'm more focused on finishing my Strangers fic, but I kind of missed writing for it and was motivate to turn out a chapter.

A million thanks to all the amazing reviews for the last chapter. I just love how fired up readers have become with this story. It's definitely a different energy as opposed to Strangers and I have to say I'm really enjoying it so PLEASE keep it up! So with the last chapter many of you were happy Brooke seems to be out of the picture, while others were praising her for putting Lucas in his place. Some want a Brooke and Peyton scene, believe Brooke might just show up at the house anyway, and there was even a suggestion thrown in there for a Brucas baby, lol. Meanwhile some want Peyton to get a new man of her own, while the other half of you seem to be firmly against it. Slow down there guys this fic is just getting started, but I'm truly loving the enthusiasm.

* * *

Chapter 9: I Want You To Want Me

"I'm glad you agreed to hear me out." Lucas began.

Across from him sat Brooke sporting an icy scowl. He had felt awful about how things had gone down last week and he wanted to make it up to her. His relationship with Brooke wasn't some whirlwind romance - far from it - but he did like her. Lucas had been in a pretty dark place this past year after his split with Peyton, and Brooke had been the one to sort of strong-arm him into really living life again, as best as he could anyway.

"That has yet to be determined." The brunette spoke up before the blond could proceed. She had been ignoring his calls and messages all week. "I'm only here for the free meal. I'm hungry and figured it's the least you could do after the shit you pulled last week." She had a long break in-between classes today and had finally agreed to see him for lunch off-campus. "I honestly wouldn't mind if you just sat there and kept your mouth shut."

"I already apologized for what happened Brooke." Lucas reminded her.

"Well I'm still pissed Lucas. You don't just drop that kind of bomb on your girlfriend and then expect things to be just peachy."

Lucas raised a curious eyebrow. "So you are still my girlfriend then?" He questioned unsure of where they stood right now.

"That has yet to be determined." Brooke quickly corrected crossing her arms over her chest.

"I fucked up and I am sorry Brooke."

She rolled her eyes, clearly unmoved by his apology. "You know I really liked you Lucas. I thought you were different."

"I really liked you too Brooke, I still do. Let me make it up to you."

"Why? So you can keep me as your backup until your wife takes your sorry ass back? Thanks, but I think I'll pass."

"I'm not getting back together with Peyton."

"No what you mean to say is that she won't take your two-timing ass back, so why should I?"

"I haven't cheated on you Brooke." He gently reminded her. "And I have nothing to hide."

"You make it seem like moving in with your ex is completely normal Lucas. Newsflash, it's not."

"I never said it was."

"Could have fooled me by the way you oh so casually dropped the news." Brooke snorted.

Lucas paused and sighed. "I admit I could have handled that better."

"Oh you think?" She replied mockingly.

"It's just temporary until I get my own place. She's just doing me a favor."

"Why can't you get your own place now?"

"It's complicated." He had no desire to disclosure his current situation. This relationship was far too new for that. "But I get to see my kid more and I won't apologize for that."

"That's not why I'm mad and you know it Lucas, please don't twist my words to make yourself feel better. I might be young, but I'm no dummy and I've been nothing but understanding and respectful of your family situation. I haven't poked my nose where it doesn't belong, so I don't think it's too much to ask for you to treat our relationship with the same respect."

Lucas shoulder's dropped. He couldn't argue with that. Brooke had never overstepped those boundaries. "You're right." He acknowledged.

"Of course I'm right." She replied smug yet teasingly.

"Where does that leave us then?"

"I don't know Lucas." She answered honestly. "I'm still really upset and I'm not exactly eager to have to compete against your wife for your attention."

"You're not competing against Peyton. There is no Peyton and I. Last time I checked we were seeing each other."

"Oh spare me your fuckboy logic Lucas Scott."

"I don't even know what that means." Lucas said while frowning.

"Of course you wouldn't, you're only like a million years old."

"Are you just gonna sit here and insult me the whole time?"

"Probably." Brooke quickly quipped before her lips broke into a tiny smile. "It's not like you don't deserve it."

Lucas playfully shook his head. "I like you Brooke."

"That's nice." She waved her hand dismissively.

"And you like me too."

"Not right now I don't."

"My buddy that I told you about said we could use his cabin. Let's go this weekend and I can make it up to you." The blond offered.

"I'm not going away with you Lucas." Brooke dryly spoke.

"Why not?" He slightly whined in surprise.

"Because having sex in some cabin in the woods isn't going to magically make me feel better. In fact it's insulting more than anything."

"We don't have to have sex if that's what you really want."

"Lucas you'll be lucky if I even deem you worthy enough of holding my purse at this point."

Lucas blew out a breath and rolled his eyes. "Tell me what I need to do."

"Grow up, which believe me I'm well aware of the irony here."

"C'mon pretty girl can't we just get over this hump and start fresh?"

"Kind of hard to start fresh when you're gonna be living more than two hours away."

He sent Brooke a hopeful look. "I'm willing to give it a try."

"Well I don't know if I am." She said stiffly. "I knew dating someone like you wasn't ideal, but I did it anyway, so maybe I only have myself to blame here. I guess I let myself like you too much."

Lucas swallowed hard. "I see." He sighed. "And I can't change your mind at all? In any way?"

"I...don't know Lucas. I really don't. I'll think about it." Brooke blew out a breath and began gathering her things. "I should get going."

"We haven't even ordered lunch yet." He stated looking puzzled.

"I'm not hungry anymore."

"At least stay so we can talk it out some more."

"I already told you I'd think about it Lucas. Don't push it." She warned. "Give me my space."

"So what now then?"

Brooke shrugged. "If I feel like talking to you then I'll call and if I don't well then..."

"Just like that?" He said incredulously.

"Yup. Just like that."

* * *

"So you said you wanted to talk?" Peyton asked her nephew before taking a bite out of her chicken sandwich.

After having served his time, Jamie had finally been released and was no longer grounded. He had showed up at Peyton's door seeking advice and suggested they go out to eat.

"Yea I kind of need your advice on something important like as a girl and stuff...and since you're a girl..."

Peyton laughed as Jamie fumbled through his words. "Yes I am a girl last time I checked or woman works too." She teased. "What's the issue bud?"

"When did you know that Uncle Lucas was the one? Was it like my mom and dad where you just knew right away?"

Peyton immediately laughed again. "Um no. I actually didn't really like your uncle. In fact I kind of hated him."

Jamie's eyes widened. "Really? What changed?"

"He kind of wore me down. When your uncle sets his sights on something he can be very persistent. Lucas spent all of sophomore year trying to get me to go out with him. He practically stalked me for almost a year."

Jamie laughed. "That's creepy."

"Yea I really don't recommended it. I rejected him every time he asked me out."

"So what made you decide to give Uncle Lucas a shot?"

"When he stopped trying so damn hard. He became less of an arrogant jerk and then ended up being kind of sweet. When that happened it made me realize that he actually did care about me and that I kind of did too."

"And then you fell in love?"

"Well according to your uncle he was already kind of in love with me way before we got together. It took me a little while to catch up, but once we started dating it wasn't long before I was feeling those same feelings." Peyton replied. "Why the sudden interest?" Her lips curved into a smirk already having an idea where this was heading.

"I think I'm kind of in love too." Jamie slowly confessed. He had been dating his girlfriend for almost a year now.

"With Olive? Oh Jamie honey that's so great. Your first love is kind of a big one. How do you feel?"

Jamie frowned in thought before speaking again. "Weird and confused, but mostly just weird. It's like I can't even think straight sometimes. When we hang out it's great and when we don't all I can think about is when's the next time I get to see her. The only other thing I've ever thought this much about is basketball. Is that normal?"

Peyton laughed. "Totally normal. It's called the honeymoon stage."

Jamie blew out a breath and sighed. "I haven't told her yet. I dunno if she feels the same way and what if it freaks her out?"

"Doubtful. That girl is crazy about you, I can tell." Peyton reassured her nephew. "But if you're not ready to tell her just yet that's okay too."

He shook his head. "No I'm ready." He corrected. "And I think I'm also kind of ready to...well you know."

"Ready for...?"

Jamie's face turned serious. "You know ready for _it_. Taking the next step in our relationship." He spoke. His blue eyes grew large and his face sheepishly tilted to the side while he spoke.

The smile on Peyton's face slowly died. This was _not_ where she thought this conversation was heading. She closed her eyes and cringed. "Please tell me this is not what you need my advice for." She said feeling rather horrified as she secretly cursed Lucas for being right that Jamie was either already having sex or close to it.

"Guilty."

"Isn't this the kind of stuff you should be talking to your dad about?" Or literally anyone else but her because this was fucking awkward.

Jamie shrugged. "Dad's always been weird about this kind of stuff. His face gets really sweaty."

"Okay what about your Uncle Lucas? He'd be more than happy to talk to you about..." God she couldn't even say the word out loud. "...this."

"Well like I said before kind of looking for a girl perspective on this one."

"Your mother then." Peyton quickly suggested while shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

Jamie narrowed his eyes. "Really? My mom?" He spoked deadpanned. "Besides aren't you the one who always said I can come to you about anything?"

Peyton released a huff as her shoulders fell.

Damn her and her big mouth.

"Yes. I did say that didn't I." The blonde grumbled unhappily.

"Hey Aunt Peyton if you're not up to it it's fine."

"No, no, of course you can come and talk to me about anything. I meant what I said Jamie. I just didn't think it would be about _that_."

"You can say sex Aunt Peyton."

"No I can't. I really can't." She replied with a frown still feeling kind of freaked out.

Jamie laughed.

"Listen I mean you're fifteen. I think you probably already know how it...works...right?"

The younger Scott made a face. "Eww no that's gross. I'm not looking for the birds and the bees talk here Aunt Peyton. I'm all set on that thanks." He clarified. "It's just...how will I know if she's like cool with it?"

Peyton sent her nephew a disapproving frown. "Cool with it? I hope that's not how you plan on asking her James Lucas."

Jamie blew out a breath. "I mean like how can I tell if she's ready?"

"Honey trust me you'll know."

"Girls are kind of hard to figure out sometimes Aunt Peyton. One minute they mean one thing and then another the next, sometimes it's hard to keep up!"

"Well trust me boys are just as confusing to girls at that age as well." Peyton took another bite out of her meal.

"But I mean when you were my age I mean how long did you wait until..."

"Okay Jamie I'm gonna stop you right there. Your relationship with Olive is exactly that, _your relationship_. And every relationship is different so you can't go around comparing it to anyone else's. There's no blueprint for this kind of stuff, though ideally I wish you'd wait until you were a little older, but at the end of the day that decision is yours to make and I can't tell you what to do or stop you."

Jamie slowly nodded.

"Okay I'm gonna let you in on a little secret Jamie. You know how everyone thinks that guys pretty much only think about having sex and girls aren't that interested?"

"Uh yea I guess."

"Well that is a lie. Girls are just as curious about sex. So trust me when I say that when your girlfriend is ready to take that next step she'll let you know loud and clear. There will be no mixed signals so stop worrying okay?"

"Okay."

"BUT until then you keep all your body parts to yourself am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And I'm sure I don't need to lecture you on being safe when you do correct?"

"Nope."

"Good. Can we talk about ANYTHING else now?"

Jamie chuckled and popped a French fry in his mouth. "Sure." He mumbled.

"Oh god." Peyton blew out a breath, relieved that it was over and to think in a few years she'd have to have a more detailed version of this talk with her own kid. She was definitely not looking forward to that.

"Your face looks just like the way dad's gets during one of these talks." Jamie said pointing out Peyton's slightly heated face.

"Gotta be honest J I kind of wanna throw up too." She admitted causing Jamie to laugh again.

"Well in a few years I'll do you a solid and have the _talk_ with Sawyer for you." Jamie cheekily said.

Peyton glowered in his direction. "Don't you dare!" She hissed.

* * *

"This way." Lucas called out as he directed Skills to follow him towards the storage unit he had rented. Since he was moving back in with Peyton there wasn't room for the majority of his things and until he got his own place they needed to be stored somewhere.

Skills followed Lucas while carrying a large box in his hands. "So man where exactly are you moving again? You haven't really said." Once they reached the unit he set the box down on the ground while he waited for Lucas to unlock it.

"I told you already back to Tree Hill." Lucas replied. Peyton still hadn't given him permission to tell anyone.

"Yea but where?"

"I can't really say." Lucas grumbled.

"How come?" Skills pressed. "Wait don't tell me you're moving in with that pretty fine girlfriend of yours?" He added on teasingly.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous." He scolded one of his best friends. "Also why do you assume she's hot? You've never even met Brooke."

"Because I don't for one second believe that that pretty little white boy face of yours didn't manage to snag some super hot sexy coed." Skills joked. "I went to high school with you remember? I've seen you in action."

"Did you also forget the part where I've really only dated one girl my entire life?"

"Yea and last time I checked Peyton was fine right?"

Lucas laughed.

"Also let's not forget all the other girls in high school that were just praying or plotting for you two to break up."

"Whatever man." Lucas said as he opened the storage unit.

"Oh now we're being modest? After 35 years of cockiness?"

Lucas shrugged. "I'm turning over a new leaf."

Skills pursed his lips not believing it for a second. "C'mon what's this new girl look like? What's she like? You never talk about her."

"Oh maybe it's because I've heard more than enough robbing the cradle jokes from you fools to last me a lifetime." The blond defended.

"Hey that's funny stuff man." Skills replied as he placed the box inside the unit and the men walked back over to the truck to collect more boxes. "C'mon at least show me a picture. No one knows what this girl looks like. I'm beginning to think she doesn't even exist."

"I have a pretend girlfriend now?"

Skills shrugged. "Maybe it's all one big ploy to make P Sawyer jealous."

Lucas was rolling his eyes again. "Man shut up and grab a box."

"Show me a picture first." Skills demanded refusing to move any further. "Unless you wanna spend all day storing your shit by yourself."

"You're a child. You do realize that right?" Lucas muttered. He grabbed his cell from his back pocket and pulled out a picture of Brooke.

Skills quickly snatched up his phone. "Damn player nice work." He complimented. "She got any friends? A sister? A twin sister?"

Lucas snatched his phone back. "So now you're okay with dating college women?"

"Shouldn't knock it til you try it I always say."

Lucas shook his head in disbelief before grabbing a box out of the rental truck. Skills followed suit.

"Anyway this new girl is fine and all, but she's no Peyton." Despite the split, Skills still remained very close to Peyton.

"No one could ever be Peyton." Lucas quietly said.

Skills sported a sad smile. He was still rooting for his two friends to get back together.

"But anyway it seems like you like this new girlfriend of yours."

"Yea, but that might be over actually. I've been benched."

"Benched? What the hell does that mean?" Skills wondered as the boys began stacking boxes on top of each other inside the storage unit.

"It means that if she ever decides to call me back then I'm still in the game and if she doesn't then this will be the second time in a year that I've been dumped." Lucas explained.

"Damn it's like that?"

"Those were my thoughts exactly."

"What the hell did you do to that poor girl?"

Lucas sighed. He set down the small night stand he had just grabbed out of the truck. "I have to tell you something, but you CAN'T tell anyone."

Skills suspiciously eyed his friend. "Lay it on me brother."

"Peyton's letting me come back home." The blond revealed.

Skills' jaw dropped. "Wait are you two back together?!" He spoke excitedly.

Lucas frowned. "Nah Peyton's still pretty set on the divorce. I'm just staying in the guest room temporarily."

"Why in the hell would she do that? No offense man but I don't really see skinny girl just welcoming you back home with open arms."

"She's helping me out. I'm kind of in a pinch financially."

Skills looked surprised at the news and then slowly nodded. "So that's why you took the Ravens' job. To be honest I didn't think you'd be interested when I first suggested it."

"The divorce has kind of tied up a lot of our money, but once it's finalized I should be okay. Peyton's letting me stay for a few months so I can save up and then I'll get my own place."

"I see."

"She doesn't really want anyone to know yet, so please don't tell. She'll kill me."

Skills nodded understanding. "We never had this conversation." He declared.

"Thanks man."

"Wait so let me get this straight..." Skills began with a smile on his face. "You're shacking up with your ex and you still might have a super hot girlfriend? Man I might need to start taking cues out of your playbook."

"It's not like that."

"So is that why homegirl benched you? Because you're moving back in with Peyton?"

"Yup pretty much."

"It's a dick move man. I mean what did you expect?"

Lucas sighed. "I dunno man. Being in a new relationship is hard. I'm out of practice and I don't remember it being this hard with Peyton."

Skills laughed hard. "You're kidding right? Remember how much Peyton hated your ass?"

"Yea, but once we got together it was smooth sailing."

"No it wasn't. You guys bickered all the time."

"Yea but then we got to make up all the time." Lucas fondly remembered. Even after they got together Peyton had continued to challenge him. He had always loved that about her. They'd fight and by next period they were back to making out by the lockers at school.

"You know honestly maybe it's better that Brooke's out of the way."

"She might still call." Lucas replied. He hadn't seen or heard from Brooke is almost a week, but he was still hoping she might change her mind about him.

"Who cares? Don't answer. You're moving back in with your family. Don't you understand that this is probably your last chance to win your wife back?"

"Of course I've thought about that, but Peyton doesn't want me back. A few weeks ago I begged her to give me another chance and she didn't want to hear it. All I've done this past year is beg her to take me back. There's nothing I can do to change her mind Skills. This entire year all she's done is tell me to move on, so that's what I did. I moved on with Brooke."

"Man stop playing you don't love that girl."

"Doesn't mean I couldn't someday."

Skills shook his head disapprovingly. "You really believe that? Don't be stupid man we both know she's not Peyton. Don't let this opportunity of being back home go to waste. Win her back Luke. Peyton still loves you."

"That may be true, but she'll never let herself forgive me. I know that much."

"Well you did fuck up so you can't really blame her for that."

"So what's the point then? I've already lost her Skills."

"The point is that you give it your all. Despite what Peyton says I don't really think she's ready to let you go yet. If she were she would have met someone else by now."

"Doesn't mean she wants me back. She pretty much thinks I'm a jackass."

"Luke let's be real, she always thought you were jackass."

Lucas chuckled.

"She just let herself fall in love with that jackass. Now you just gotta remind her that it's still okay to let herself love you. You were able to do it once before. I'm positive you can do it again. Don't let her give up on you."

"Skills believe me when I say she's already given up. She's 100% done with me."

"That's bullshit man. If Peyton really gave zero fucks about you then your ass wouldn't be moving back home. She cares. Don't give up."

* * *

So a little bonding time between Peyton and Jamie just cuz I'm loving writing what is usually an unexplored relationship in most fics, and Lucas needs to decide whether or not his focus will be on getting Peyton back or continue to move on like she's insisted he do. Thoughts? Please share.

Up next: Lucas moves back home. Are these two gonna be able to get along under the same roof?

Until next time!


	10. Three Scotts, One Roof

Reviews:

 **Guest** \- Yup I'm back! Would never abandon this story.

 **Guest** – Here's your update, thanks so much for your patience!

 **ktylnrose** – Thanks for reading the story this far and all your wonderful reviews! Welcome!

 **Emma** – Yes this one is so different from my Strangers fic, but I'm glad you love both, so do I!

 **WrappedInARiddle** \- Yea I think it's kind of funny that someone much younger than Lucas had to set him straight. I love Brooke! She don't take shit from no one.

 **Guest** \- Why do you assume that there will be sexual tension between those two? Ha totally kidding of course there will be! It's coming soon I promise. Thanks for reading.

 **Guest** \- No they really didn't deal with their issues before the separation and more of that will come to light as the story progresses.

 **Sandra** \- Thanks for the support!

 **Clayvus** \- Thanks so much!

 **jordana60** \- Yes the Peyton and Jamie chat was my fav scene in the last chapter. I hope to include more of their relationship in the future.

 **Tpassions** \- So happy that you're enjoying it so far! Thank you!

 **Guest** \- Funny that you mention it, but Karen will actually be making an appearance in this story.

 **Guest** \- Sorry you're not a fan of the Brucas, but it's just part of the story I had a mind. This is a still a Leyton endgame though.

 **Guest** \- I love Skills too. He's the best!

 **Guest** \- Thank you for reviewing!

 **thibbs65** – Naley will pop up here and there, but Jamie and Quinn in particular will be featured more.

 **Guest** \- Thank you!

* * *

 ***Pokes her head out from behind a bush* Anyone still reading this?**

 **It's been well...months. But I'm happy to announce that this story is officially no longer on hiatus and will be my main focus now that my other fic _Strangers_ is pretty much wrapped up.**

 **So sit back and enjoy, and hopefully this story still has some readers left, lol!**

 **And if you've completely forgotten what this story is about may I suggest starting back from the very beginning? :)**

* * *

Chapter 10: Three Scotts, One Roof

Peyton pulls up to the front of her house and as expected there was Lucas' car already parked in the driveway. The past few weeks had flown by and Lucas had finally moved in today. He had brought the rest of his things around noon, but since she had been at work all day and Sawyer was at school they hadn't seen him yet.

"Dad's here!" Sawyer exclaimed and in a haste goes to unbuckle her seat belt.

"Hey car's still moving here!" Peyton scolds her daughter. "Wait until I finish parking first." She orders as she moves to park the car behind Lucas'.

The unmistakable sound of someone sucking in their teeth catches Peyton's ears. She pauses looking over at her daughter accusingly. Feeling her mother's glare Sawyer suddenly seems fascinated with looking out the passenger side window.

Biting her tongue, Peyton takes in a deep breath and goes back to the task of parking her Comet. Sawyer had been snippy with her all day. She had wanted to skip school today so that she could welcome Lucas when he came home. Peyton of course had refused to entertain the idea and Sawyer had been anything but pleased. She was sure that her daughter would have gotten over it by now after being in school all day, but apparently not.

"Can I go now?" Sawyer questioned quickly the second Peyton had put the car in neutral and shut it off.

"Go." Peyton replied rather annoyed.

Sawyer was gone before she could even blink.

Rolling her eyes Peyton released a tired sigh. For the most part Sawyer was a good kid, but in those rare instances when she fell into one of her 'moods' it was never fun to deal with. She let it slide this time however knowing that once her daughter saw Lucas she'd be back to normal.

Peyton stayed in her seat for about another minute, mentally preparing herself that her soon to be ex-husband really was going to be living with them for the next four months. She still couldn't believe she had let Lucas convince her to go along with this crazy ass idea.

She really didn't see this arrangement ending well. Not at all.

She had a real short temper and Lucas had a real knack for pissing her off.

One of them was bound to end up dead and strangled after this.

Her money was on Lucas.

* * *

When Peyton enters the kitchen she finds a very animated Sawyer sitting over the countertop, spitting out a hundred words a minute as she talks to her father.

Turning from Sawyer, Lucas looks over his shoulder and grins. "Hey! You're home."

"Hi." Peyton politely returns the greeting. She then notices the smell of food and the set dinner table. "You cooked?" She says in surprise.

Lucas shrugged. "Yea, figured it was the least I could do. Thought we could all sit down and have dinner together for my first night back. That okay?"

Peyton silently nods giving the okay.

"Great! Dinner will be ready in five." He announced. "Monkey go wash up okay?"

"Okay." Sawyer hops off the counter and heads to the bathroom.

Peyton awkwardly shifted from side to side. "Soooo...can I help with anything?"

"Nope just have a seat. I've got it handled."

Peyton happily does just that. She had only offered to be polite anyway. "So what's for dinner?"

"Honey barbecue roasted chicken."

"Nice." Peyton nodded sounding rather impressed.

"I just used the chicken that was in the fridge. Hope that's okay."

Peyton's face immediately fell. "My chicken?" She accused.

"Um yea. What's the big deal?" Lucas asked as he started to mix the salad in a bowl.

"I spent all last night marinating that chicken that's what!" He hadn't even asked first. "I had plans to put in the slow cooker with some potatoes." It was a new recipe she had been wanting to try out.

"Well it was bland." Lucas bluntly informed her.

Peyton scoffed. "Excuse you?"

"You didn't season it enough so I just slapped on some of my homemade honey barbeque sauce over the chicken pieces and tossed them in the oven. It's much better now. Trust me I did you a favor." He added smugly.

Peyton said nothing. The look she was giving him said more than enough.

"Oh c'mon don't be such a grouch. I just wanted to make dinner for my two favorite girls."

Peyton blew out an angry breath. He knew damn well she wasn't 'his girl' anymore. They hadn't even been living together for a whole five minutes yet and she already wanted to kill him. "Jesus Christ." She mumbled. "You should have asked first Lucas."

"Well excuse me for not thinking that making dinner was going to be such a big deal. It's done already. Can we just enjoy it? Please." Lucas sent her a hopeful look. "Okay?"

"Fine. Okay." Peyton gritted though her teeth. There was no point in arguing further. He had already cooked the damn bird.

"Sure?"

"It's fine Lucas." Peyton forced the fakest of smiles to appear over her lips.

"Great!" Lucas grinned and went back to fixing the salad.

The second he had turned around Peyton was back to shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

* * *

The dinner had been absolutely delicious.

And Peyton was still pretty salty about it.

The chicken in particular tasted a hundred times better than anything she would have cooked up and they both knew it. At the table Lucas had been sporting his signature smug and she had been dying to just slap it off his face during the entire meal. But of course she played nice since Sawyer was present.

It wasn't that Peyton was a bad cook. She was actually pretty decent, but she had to work at it. She was the kind of cook that carefully had to follow recipes, ingredients and measurements down to a tee. Lucas however was the completely opposite. He was a total natural and didn't need any of that. He went on instinct and feeling, and just threw shit together and it always come out tasting incredible.

She envied that.

If that wasn't bad enough, after the meal Lucas had pulled out a chocolate cake he'd baked for dessert.

What the fuck?

That had been her first thought.

Didn't he just move in today? How in the world did he find the time between moving in to make a three-course meal out of scratch in just a few hours?

He had Sawyer fawning and drooling over the chocolate cake the second he brought it out. Clearly the man was going out of his way to make her look bad.

Okay. Maybe she was overreacting a little, but did he have to be so damn perfect all the time? Was there anything that Lucas couldn't do? Even as kids Lucas had always been this smug little perfectionist in everything he did and he always succeeded too. It was that same smug confidence that had eventually won her over when they were teens. However Peyton couldn't deny that Lucas did work hard for every goal he set his sights on. He had an incredible work ethic and never expected anything to just be handed to him. The man had rightfully so earned all his accomplishments and successes. And that was a quality that she had always loved about Lucas. He knew what he wanted and he went after it, even if the cocky attitude that accompanied it left very little to be desired. The word humble was not in Lucas' vocabulary, but overall he was still a good person.

Well you know if you didn't count the cheating on your wife part.

* * *

"Well you look all settled in." Peyton commented from her spot. She was leaning against the doorframe of the guest bedroom watching Lucas put away the last of his things. The room was neat and tidy with his belongings.

"Yup." Lucas replied rather happily as he stuffed the last of his t-shirts into the drawer.

"Sawyer's all tucked in. She wants to say good night to you."

He nodded. "Be right there."

"Oh and thanks again for dinner." Peyton grudgingly mumbled out. "Though you didn't have to go through all the trouble. I had it covered."

"I'm sure you did."

The blonde fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"You look really nice today by the way." Lucas complimented making no effort to hide the fact that he was blatantly checking her out.

The eye roll was victorious and Peyton quickly crossed her arms over her chest.

"Four months Lucas." She reminded him sternly.

"Yes I know."

"Four months." She repeated. "And word of advice? Try not to get yourself kicked out by then." Lucas needed to behave during his stay here and that included keeping his wandering eyes to himself. He had always been a huge flirt. "Or slapped."

"Your hospitality astounds me Peyton." Lucas quipped sarcastically. "Never felt so welcomed."

"Hmm maybe I should have just rolled out the old sleeping bag in the backyard instead. You know given you the full VIP treatment." Peyton suggested wearing the most pleasant of smiles.

Lucas frowned. "No need to go out of your way." He replied deadpanned.

"Oh it's no trouble at all."

"I'm gonna go say goodnight to our daughter now." Lucas announced instead having zero interest in entertaining his wife's crabbiness.

"You do that." Peyton moved allowing Lucas to pass her. She was back to frowning again.

"Oh and hey word of advice? You really shouldn't frown so much. I hear it causes wrinkles and you wouldn't want any more of those."

Peyton's jaw dropped in shock.

"Anyways good chat." Lucas smiled wide. "Sleep tight." He added before heading towards Sawyer's room.

"Dick." Peyton angrily spat out all alone.

* * *

The first thing Peyton did the next morning was head straight for the shower. After getting a good night's sleep she felt a lot more relaxed and less tense compared to last night. This whole new arrangement she had stepped into with Lucas was uncharted territory and she had allowed it to get the best of her. This new living situation had her emotions on edge and Peyton would be the first to admit that maybe she had been a little too harsh with Lucas last night.

Okay so she had been a total bitch. Plain and simple.

But that was yesterday and today was a new day. For the past few months her and Lucas have proven that they could get along for Sawyer's sake and there was no reason that had to change now. They were both capable adults with the ability to behave in each other's company.

So first Peyton was going to enjoy a long hot shower and then she'd apologize to Lucas so that they could start fresh.

"I don't have wrinkles." Peyton muttered to herself as she scrubbed her body with a loofah. She then realized that she was frowning in thought and immediately relaxed the muscles of her face. "Jerk." She muttered again to herself.

Just then Peyton heard the door to the bathroom open and shut. "Hey sweetie is that you?" She called out assuming Sawyer had entered the bathroom to pee.

"Sawyer?"

"Nope it's just me."

She froze, dropping the loofah in her hands as her green eyes widened.

No it couldn't be. She had to be hearing things.

Peyton pulled at the shower curtain just enough to allow her face to peak through.

And there was Lucas standing in front of the bathroom sink. He had a razor in one hand and a face full of shaving cream.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" Peyton screeched sharply.

Lucas looked over his shoulder. "I have to shave and you're taking way too long in here. For a second there I thought you drowned in the tub." His head turned back around. "It's my first day of work at the school and I can't be late. Gotta make a good impression." He brought his face up close to the mirror and began shaving.

"Have you seriously lost it? Get out!" She ordered.

"Oh c'mon what's the big deal? I used to come in here while you were in the shower all the time." He reminded her like it was the most casual thing in the world. "Just like old times."

Peyton was seething. "GET. OUT."

"I'm almost done."

"Get out!" Picking the loofah off the shower floor the blonde tossed it at his head.

Lucas paused and turned around. "Now that was rude." He frowned.

"I am going to KILL you."

"Wouldn't that involve you exiting the shower?" Lucas quipped noticing how Peyton gripped the shower curtain tightly as she hid her body behind it. Her head was the only thing in full view and she was wearing a pink shower cap with flowers on it. He found it amusing considering the woman had never wore anything pink in her entire life.

Peyton glared at him, but did not loosen her grip over the curtain. And to think she had actually considered apologizing to this idiot. That definitely wasn't happening now. The only thing Lucas was getting was her foot up his ass.

Lucas went to pick up the loofah. "Need this back?" He held it out to Peyton at a reasonable distance teasing her. "Come and get it." He dangled the loofah some more.

"Lucas Eugene Scott get the hell out of my bathroom!"

"Oooh the full name treatment I'm in real trouble now." He mocked while waving his hands in the air.

"Lucas this isn't funny. You can not be in here right now." Peyton cried out.

"C'mon it's nothing I haven't seen before." Lucas tried to reason.

"That's not the point." She gritted through her teeth.

"Stop being so uptight." Lucas tossed her the loofah.

Peyton caught it with one hand, the other still gripping the curtain. "Stop being a dick!" She responded.

"I still don't see what the big deal is. I've seen you naked plenty of times."

"How the hell would you like it if I just barged in while you were in the middle of a shower?"

Lucas grinned. "Well..."

Peyton cut in. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. I cannot even believe we're having this conversation right now."

"I mean if you wanted to see me naked all you had to do was ask Peyt."

Peyton snorted. "Not in the slightest."

Lucas took another good look at Peyton. She was still completely covered behind the shower curtain, but there was enough light in the room that he could make out her silhouette. "Hey did your ass get bigger?" He wondered out loud. His head was tilted sideways while he checked her out.

Peyton's jaw dropped. "Get the fuck out!" She yelled at him once more and aimed the loofah at his head yet again. "I hate you."

Lucas put his hands up defensively. "What?! It was meant to be a compliment! I like it, you look great!"

"Get out!" Peyton grabbed the closest object near her, a bar of soap, and chucked it at him.

"Now Peyton violence is never the answer."

She went to grab the bottle of conditioner next.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. I'm going." He wiped the remainder of the shaving cream off his face. "I'll come back later to finish. Geez you try to give someone a compliment..." He mumbled.

Suppressing the urge to jump out and strangle the man, Peyton took in a deep breath and ducked her head back inside the shower. She waited in silence for Lucas to exit the bathroom.

Deciding he had probably filled his quota for the day in annoying Peyton, Lucas left the room without another word, but he made sure to flush the toilet on his way out.

Seconds later he could hear Peyton shriek from the other side of the door.

Lucas smiled to himself and then headed back to his room.

* * *

Coming up: The tension continues in the next chapter.

Loved it? Hated it? Wished for something different? Let me know in the reviews!

Until next time! xoxo


	11. There Is No Before

Reviews

 **Alana:** Enjoy the update!

 **nc:** Thank you and I'm glad you're enjoying so far!

 **ThumperE23** : Thanks for reading!

 **Guest** : Yep Lucas is an ass. More on that eventually.

 **Guest:** It's a new adjustment, so Peyton definitely has her defenses up. She is way too worked up and Lucas being the jerk he is plays with that. Thanks for reading!

 **Leytonluv** : Sorry you aren't enjoying the direction I'm taking, but this is the story I want to tell. I'm not going the traditional route with Leyton, which is why I developed their personalities differently from the show. They're meant to be flawed and human. Thanks for reading up until this point though.

 **Emmajoie:** Thank you! You're too sweet.

 **Shazzles:** Thank you and many thanks for reading Strangers as well! I miss writing for it already! P Saywer will get her groove back. I can promise you that much, but I can't say more. Keep reading to find out!

 **jordana60:** The shit between these two is complicated. There's love there, but it's also weighed down by an intense amount of frustration and pain. Thank you for all your faithful support with all my stories. You're a rockstar!

 **Guest:** Thank you!

 **Tpassions:** Good to be back, thanks!

 **Clavyus:** Don't think Lucas was ever as cocky on the show as he is in this story! Lol

 **thibbs65:** Sawyer was being bratty in that last chapter, but she's not really mad at her mom. Things are okay, she's just really excited to have her dad close again. Thanks for reading!

* * *

Chapter 11: There Is No Before

Peyton hadn't seen Lucas' face since the shower incident. He had wisely confined himself to his room afterwards, though at one point while she was getting dressed she had heard the familiar sound of his feet padding back towards the bathroom. By the time she had reemerged from her room, Lucas had already left the house having volunteered to drive Sawyer to school this morning. For that she was glad, the anger coursing through her veins was still very much present and Peyton doubted very much that she'd be able to control herself around Sawyer this time.

As she walked into the kitchen she noticed that Lucas had already made coffee, enough for the two of them. Though she was still furious with him, she was still going to pour herself a damn cup even if it had been made by her least favorite person on earth right now.

Peyton reached over, opening one of the kitchen cabinets. "What the hell?" She frowned, completely confused when she was greeted with dinner plates instead of mugs. Was she losing her mind? This wasn't right. She opened the cabinet next to it, her frown lines deepening instantly. Instead of herbs and spices, she was met with baking ingredients. "What the fuck?" Who the hell had rearranged her entire kitchen?

The sound of a car pulling in the driveway could be heard. Peyton whipped her head around already knowing who was responsible for all this. Lucas walked into the house less than a minute later. Why was he back? She assumed he would have gone straight to the high school after dropping Sawyer off.

"Hey." He greeted cautiously knowing well that Peyton was probably still upset.

"Don't you hey me." She snapped before demanding answers. "What the hell did you do to my kitchen?"

"I shifted some things around. Things are a little more organized now."

"When?!" She demanded. He'd only moved in yesterday.

He shrugged. "Last night after you went to bed. I couldn't sleep."

Peyton scoffed at him and continued to go around opening cabinets and drawers to see what else Lucas had moved. "Where are the damn mugs?" She barked out annoyed that she still hadn't been able to locate one. She really needed coffee right now.

Lucas rolled his eyes and took a few steps forward. "Right here." He opened a cabinet and pulled out a mug, setting it down by the coffee pot. "You had them stored on the other side of the kitchen, which makes absolutely no sense considering the coffee maker is here."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You had no right."

"What are you getting so mad about? I just did you a favor. I don't even know why you rearranged the kitchen in the first place. It was fine before."

Peyton's left eye slightly twitched. "Before?" She gritted out.

By 'before' what he meant was when he still lived here.

Lucas had thing with things being perfect. He was a little OCD and everything had to be in its rightful place. He liked things cleaned and organized, which proved to be a major problem when they first moved in together after college. While Lucas liked his things neat and tidy, Peyton on the other hand was the exact opposite. She was messy and left her things laying all over the apartment, never bothering to put them back in their proper place and it drove Lucas crazy. Over the years she had gotten better about it, but in the beginning it had been a regular point of tension in their household. When Lucas' indiscretion came out last year Peyton had completely rearranged the entire house after he moved out. She didn't want any reminders of him and the home they had built together for over a decade. She had reorganized everything in that house, down to the last fork.

And now he was back eager to mark his territory all over again.

"Lucas. Listen to me and listen to me closely." Peyton began trying her best to be calm. "I have zero interest in going back to _before._ "

"Peyton–"

"No. This is my house and my kitchen, and I like things just the way I had it. You're a guest here Lucas, don't you forget that. You're only here right now because I allow it."

"Peyton."

"Put everything back Lucas. I'm not gonna say it again. Just do as your told."

"Now don't you think you're overacting just a bit?"

Peyton glared at him with wild eyes. "I'm overreacting?!" She shook her head in disbelief. "You crossed a line back there today!"

"I crossed a line?" Lucas scoffed. "Because I moved around a few plates? You're being ridiculous."

"You know damn well that's not what I'm talking about now. That little stunt you pulled earlier this morning is completely unacceptable. There are boundaries Lucas. RESPECT my personal space. You don't get to waltz in wherever you damn please."

"This is my house too Peyton." Lucas shot back.

"No. It was. Not anymore and you paying the mortgage doesn't change that. No one is forcing you to do that. You made that choice." The blonde quickly reminds him.

Lucas angrily shook his head.

"We are not together anymore Lucas. What part of that do you not get?"

"Oh believe me. I got it."

"And what? You think that it's still okay for you to come into the bathroom while I'm showering? I don't care how many times you did it the past. We do not have that type of relationship anymore. You don't get to do that anymore Lucas. You don't get that privilege anymore, so how about you show me and our daughter some fucking respect. I mean you do realize that Sawyer could have seen that right?"

"She didn't though." Lucas quickly defended.

"That's beside the point."

"I was just messing around okay? I'm sorry."

Peyton shook her head. "Except you're not really sorry. You did it to piss me off, but this isn't a joke Lucas."

"I never said it was Peyton."

"Then why do you it Lucas?!" Peyton exclaimed.

"Gee I don't know Peyton, why do always find the need to be pissed at me about every single little thing?! I can't do anything right. Everything pisses you off. You're always overreacting about shit that doesn't matter. I'm a good father goddammit, and I was a good husband to you and you know it."

"Oh yea! You were the _best_!" She sarcastically quipped in his face.

"There was nothing I wouldn't have fucking done for you." He spat out.

"Except keeping your dick in your pants. That's kind of an important one there."

"Wow, I'm surprised you remembered I had one. Certainly can't remember the last time you bothered to touch it."

Peyton's glare turned dark. If looks could kill he would be six feet under right about now. "Fuck you Lucas." She turned around and stomped away from the kitchen forgetting all about her coffee.

"Fuck." Lucas mumbled to himself and quickly went after her. "Peyton wait." He called out knowing he had fucked up. That moment back there had been complete word vomit. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No Lucas. No! Just don't okay!" Peyton gathered her things getting ready to head out the door.

Lucas grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him. "I'm sorry okay?"

Peyton yanked her arm away from his grasp. "Don't touch me. In fact how about from now on you just stay on your side of the house."

"My side of the house?" He made the mistake of laughing, which only pissed her off further.

"Yes as in the guest room. Those are your boundaries. Don't touch the rest of the house in addition to me. I _expect_ not to see anymore changes."

"You can't be serious." He scoffed out.

"Dead serious." Peyton barked back.

"Stay on my side? What are we three? Grow up Peyton."

"No, you grow up Lucas!" Peyton slipped her bag over her shoulder. "Oh and I want my fucking coffee mugs back where they belong!" She added before opening the front door of the house and slamming it furiously behind her.

"Real mature." Lucas called out after opening the door she had just slammed in his face.

Peyton looked over her shoulder glaring at him before slipping inside her car. Eager to get the hell out of there she quickly slipped her key in the ignition.

And of course the car refused to start.

Just her luck.

"Fuck me." She cried out loudly after several failed attempts to start her car.

Lucas was still there, quietly leaning against the doorframe. "I'll drop you off on my way to work." He offered.

Peyton got out of her car and harshly slammed the door. "I'd rather crawl all the way to work." She pulled out her phone to call a cab as she continued to walk down the driveway and away from the house. The more distance between her and Lucas the better.

"Well that went well." Lucas muttered to himself before heading back inside the house to finish getting ready for work.

* * *

What's wrong?" Haley questioned as she watched Lucas aimlessly move his food around on his plate. They were having lunch together in the teacher's lounge. Haley was a math teacher at Tree Hill High.

Lucas dropped his fork and sighed. "Nothing." He mumbled unconvincingly and rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. His brain had been replaying his fight with Peyton all day. It was a fucking disaster.

"First day jitters?" She offered next.

He quickly shook his head. "Nah. I can coach in my sleep. We both know that."

"Jamie's super excited that you're coaching the team with Skills."

"He's gonna like it a whole lot less once I have the team run the drills I'm working on." He joked.

Haley laughed. "Doubtful. He's missed you. I'm glad you'll be spending more time together now that you're moving back."

Lucas quietly nodded. With the exception of Skills, no one else knew he was already back in town. Since Peyton wasn't ready to share their new arrangement, he had been telling everyone that he was commuting back and forth for the time being because he still had a few weeks left on his lease - which was a lie of course. Lucas knew this little charade of theirs wouldn't last long. It only took someone having a conversation with Sawyer for the beans to be spilled. Even Peyton must have known that. In his opinion hiding this was pointless, but for time being Lucas had no choice but to play along with Peyton's rules. After this morning he was already skating on pretty thin ice with her at the moment.

"So if it's not the new job, what's got you all mopey then?"

"It's nothing." He repeated.

"And you're full of it." Haley shot back with a grin before taking a bite of her lunch.

"Really I'm okay."

Haley rolled her eyes. "We both know you're gonna end up telling me anyway so how about we skip this part?"

Lucas chuckled and shook his head. Of course he wanted nothing more than to confide in his best friend and tell her what was going on, but Peyton would legit murder him. It was bad enough that he had already spilled the beans to Skills. "I can't."

Haley paused mid-chew, her eyes narrowing down at him. "You can't?" She said sounding slightly offended. "You can't tell me? Me? Your best friend in the entire world?"

"Yea. Kind of." He sighed.

"That's absurd. Of course you can tell me." Haley stubbornly pressed on.

"No, I really can't Hales."

Haley suspiciously eyed him down. "So it's about Peyton then." She concluded. It was always about Peyton and his failing marriage. What she couldn't figure out however is why Lucas was being so hush hush about it. She had been there for him through the thick of it when he had royally screwed up.

"Could we not do this?"

Haley shrugged and went back to her lunch clearly unhappy.

Lucas sighed again. "It's not that I don't want to tell you Hales, I just can't. Just not right now."

"Did you do something stupid again?" She wondered now looking worried.

Lucas laughed. "No...well at least I don't think so...okay, well so maybe..." He was starting to wonder if moving in with Peyton and Sawyer had been such a good idea. He was starting to worry that it would make his relationship with Peyton worse than it already was.

Haley chuckled. "You're a mess Lucas Scott."

"Yea. I guess you could say that." He sadly admitted.

"Is this about money?" Haley unexpectedly blurted out causing Lucas to choke on his food.

Lucas furiously banged his fist against his chest as he cleared his throat. "Why would you ask me that?" He croaked in surprise. She wasn't supposed to know.

Haley slid her bottle of water across the table between them. He took her offering, gulping down most of it.

"Because I know Nathan gave you money a few months ago."

"Goddamnit Nathan." Lucas angrily grumbled to himself. So much for being blood.

"Calm down, he didn't rat you out or anything."

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"What you two fools failed to remember is that my name is also on our bank account and I look at the monthly statements. I just wasn't sure how to bring it up."

He frowned. "Well...shit."

"Luke, why did Nathan loan you all that money?"

"He didn't."

"He didn't? My bank account says otherwise." Haley pointed out.

Lucas blew out a breath. He looked around the teacher's lounge, confirming that they were still the only two left in the room. "I mean he didn't loan it to me. The money was a gift."

"A gift? I don't understand. It's a lot of money."

"Because I needed it." Lucas' eyes fell down and he could feel his face heating up in embarrassment. "I'm broke Hales." He revealed after a long paused.

Haley's brown eyes widened in surprise. "Oh." She mumbled awkwardly. She hadn't been expecting that.

"Nate was just helping me out and I didn't want anyone to know. That's why he kept it from you – poorly I may add."

"How could you be broke? You're a successful published author." Haley questioned finding this new information very puzzling.

Lucas shrugged. "I mean yeah, but I'm no Stephen King either. I'm not swimming in millions, but yes I've done pretty well for myself."

"So what happened?"

"The divorce happened. I'm not broke in the sense that I have _no money at all._ I just can't access any of the assets Peyton and I share until the divorce is finalized and we finish figuring out who gets what. On top of that my last book hasn't really been selling that well compared to the others."

"So that's why you took the coaching gig." Haley concluded.

"Pretty much."

"It makes sense now. I thought it was weird. I mean I know how much you love basketball, but it was still odd. You haven't had a second job since Peyton and Quinn first opened up the gallery."

Lucas slowly nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me all this?"

"C'mon Hales you know why. It's embarrassing. I'm 35 and I'm barely keeping my head above water."

"I'm your best friend Lucas, I wouldn't look at you any differently." She reassured him. "Are you okay though, do you need more?"

Lucas quickly shook his head. He wasn't taking any more money from his brother and sister-in-law. "I should be okay now." He replied.

"Really Luke it's okay. I'm totally fine with helping you out and so would Nathan. We're family." And truthfully they could afford it thanks to her husband's successful athletic career.

"It's fine Hales. I've got it handled now and once the divorce goes through it won't be an issue anymore."

"Are you sure? I mean Peyton filed for the divorce only like what? Two, three months ago? It could take up to a year. It's not exactly a quick process especially since you've been married for almost 15 years."

"I've got it handled Hales."

The look Haley gave him was covered with skepticism. "Does Peyton know?" Despite everything that had gone on between the blond couple, Haley knew that Peyton still cared about her husband despite her declarations to the contrary.

"She knows." Lucas confirmed.

"Okay. And?"

"And what? I told her and that's it, the story ends there."

Haley frowned knowing he was hiding something. "She offered to help you, didn't she?"

"How the fuck do you do that?" He wondered loudly because apparently Haley was telepathic now.

Haley grinned. "Because I've known you for most of my life and I've known Peyton even longer than that." Haley hadn't met Lucas until elementary school, but she had basically grown up with Peyton since her sister-in-law and Quinn had practically been inseparable since birth. "Peyton may not wanna be with you anymore, but she still cares. There's too much history there and you have a child together."

Lucas sighed. This was the second person to tell him this – that Peyton still cared. Skills had said the same thing a couple of weeks ago. It was kind of hard to believe though considering Peyton had zero interest in getting back together.

"I know you two, so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Peyton offered to help and you were a jerk about it."

"Wait how do you figure that?" Lucas questioned completely offended.

"Like I said, I know you Lucas Scott and you're kind of a jerk."

"Wow tell me how you really feel Hales."

Haley chuckled. "Luke I think you're amazing you know that. You're kind hearted, you're smart, you're a good friend, and a wonderful father. You always come through when your friends and family need you, and you're one of the most driven, hardworking people I've ever met. There's no denying that. But you're also one of the most arrogant people I've ever met in my entire life and it's definitely one of your least desirable qualities. Sometimes you have this way of coming across like you're better or smarter than everyone. Now I know you don't actually think that, but– "

"Hey it's called confidence and since when is that a bad quality?!" Lucas quickly defended. It was that same confidence that got him where he was today. No one had ever handed him anything. He worked hard for it.

"Honey it's called ego and it is not cute. Not at all."

"Okay Hales, Nathan's not exactly the most humble person on the planet either. So you can blame Dan Scott for that one."

"Yea maybe in high school, but the difference is that Nathan for the most part has grown out of it. You on the other hand..." She poked his chest hard and grinned."...have some work to do. Why do you think you and Peyton argue all the time anyway? You're so stubborn Luke."

"No. Peyton's the stubborn one." He argued.

Haley blew out a frustrated breath. "You two are utterly hopeless." There was no point in wasting her breath on this topic. "All I'm saying is just tone it down. You and Peyton could get along at lot better if you did. You love getting her riled up and you know it. You lash out at her because you don't want this divorce, but what's done is done Luke. You can't turn back time. It's over between you two. Don't be a dick just because you're not getting your way for once okay?"

Lucas sighed. He went back to silently shifting around the food on his plate. He knew Haley was right. It was time for him to man up and make amends with his wife.

"I still love you though." Haley quietly added after a beat.

* * *

Apologies for the delay folks. I was kind of stuck on this chapter for quite awhile. While I do have the main plot points of this story already mapped out, some of the in-between details are still kind of a hot mess and I'm still fine-tuning. This chapter went through a few round of cuts and additions. Originally there was no Haley scene, but I felt like the chapter called for a breather between Lucas and Peyton after such a tense morning so I had to rework somethings. Also I just love writing Haley/Luke friendship scenes.

Coming Up Next: Peyton attempts to make sure Lucas 'stays on his side' of the house. Will it work? Stay tuned!

Please review and let me know what you thought of this latest chapter. Ya'll give me life, no joke.

Until next time!


	12. Drawn Lines

Chapter 12: Drawn Lines

"Mom?"

"Yes baby?"

Sawyer tilted her head towards the left as she observed her mother's actions. "What are you doing?" She questioned with a confused frown.

"We're going to play a little game." Peyton answered while she remained focused on the task in front of her.

Sawyer's lips curved into a smile. "What kind of game?" She questioned with peaked interest.

"Well..." Peyton began as she continued to pull at the roll of blue tape in her hand and smoothed it down across the floor with the other. "It's a game of self-control."

"How do you play?" The younger Scott spoke as she followed her mother's movements down the hallway of their home.

Peyton stretched out some more tape. When she finally reached the opposite side of the house she rips the tape off, smoothing down the ends. "Well it's sort of a who can hold out the longest. You know like that staring game we sometimes play, when the first person to look away loses?"

Sawyer quickly nodded. She had become a master at that one.

"Well that's sort of the idea behind it."

"So what are the rules?"

"There's only one." Peyton stood up and dusted off her hands and the bottom of her yoga pants. "You see this tape?" She pointed at the line of tape stretched out across the floor.

Sawyer slowly nodded. "Um yea..."

"It's a line that divides the house into two sections. Everyone has to stay on their designated side and if you cross it you lose."

"So you just have to stay...on one side of the house?" Sawyer summarized back.

"Exactly." Peyton nodded proudly. "Now go wake up your father."

"Dad gets to play too?" Sawyer said with a grin. She hadn't been expecting that.

"Oh absolutely." Now it was Peyton's turn to grin. "I made up this game especially for him. He's sort of the inspiration behind it."

"And we all know how your father loves to play games." The blonde quietly muttered the last part.

Sawyer giggled excitedly before running off to collect her father.

* * *

"What in the he–"

Lucas stops short remembering his daughter is standing right beside him. "What is this?" He corrects himself while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It's still early and he had another 45 minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He's certainly confused as to why his daughter insisted that he suddenly get out of bed. The blond was surprised to see that Peyton was up as well and apparently waiting for him with crossed arms.

And now he's immediately suspicious.

She had completely ignored him last night and of course he was still too stubborn to take Haley's advice.

Lucas knew he really had to get his pride under control. He needed this thing with Peyton to work.

"Good Morning." Peyton responds somewhat coldly.

"What's going on?" Lucas stares down at the line of blue tape and proceeds to rub his big toe over it.

Sawyer excitedly interjects before Peyton can explain. "Daddy mom has a game she wants us to play."

Lucas picks up his face and raises an eyebrow at his wife. The expression on Peyton's face tells him otherwise. "A game?"

Peyton's mouth slowly morphs into a giant grin. "Yes, a game. " She confirms. "Kind of like the little game you played on me yesterday." The blonde reminds him. "Remember that? Pretty funny huh?" She drawls out bitterly, meanwhile the smile on her face remains perfectly in place.

Lucus visibly gulps. He was hoping she'd conveniently forget about yesterday's bathroom incident. Wishful thinking of course.

"Funny I don't recall." He tried to play it off while shrugging his shoulders. "Can I go back to bed now?

"Well let me refresh your memory then..." The blonde goes on completely ignoring Lucas' request.

"That won't be necessary. I'm all caught up now." He quickly spits out.

"What game from yesterday?" Sawyer questioned, confused.

"Nothing." Both parents replied at the same time.

Sawyer frowned, slowly shaking her head at her mother and father. "You guys are being weird. Again."

"Your dad used up all the hot water yesterday." Peyton lied.

"What's so funny about that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine lovebug." Peyton replied.

Sawyer turns to her father. "Kind of lame dad."

"You had to be there." Lucas quipped in defense. It earned him a loud snort from Peyton.

"You guys are still being weird." Sawyer announced. She yawned and leaned back against the wall, appearing bored with the conversation already."

"Hey I've been sleeping minding my own business. Your mother is being the weird one."

Peyton rolled her eyes at him. "Anyways...so I was thinking why don't we play another game since you love them so much Luke? This one in particular is inspired by your total love and respect for boundaries and just how much you love to stay on your own side of things."

"I'm good thanks." Lucas quickly replied not liking where this was heading. Not one bit.

"Dad you have to play! It'll be fun." Sawyer encouraged. The three of them never did anything together, not since the separation. It had been a year of rotating weekends and splitting holidays between both her parents. The idea of them doing something together as a family, even if it was some silly little game, was instantly appealing to the younger Scott. She desperately wanted her parents to get along, even more so now that the three of them were all living under the same roof for the time being.

"See Sawyer wants to play." Peyton grinned.

"We have plenty of board games in the closet." Lucas protested.

"But Dad you haven't even heard yet what the game is about!"

"Yea Lucas. Aren't you at all curious?" The blonde continued to tease him.

Lucas frowned.

"You see this line of tape?" Sawyer began. "It goes through the entire house and in order to win you have to stay on your side. Not one toe can go over that line!"

Lucas' frown deepened. "Clever." He stated deadpanned. This was dumb. Why hadn't he just apologized to Peyton last night?

"Those are the rules right mom?"

"Right." Peyton continued to grin as she stared at Lucas.

"What's the prize?" Sawyer inquired.

"Huh?" Peyton shrugged.

Sawyer rolled her eyes. "Mom it's not much of a game if you don't win anything."

Peyton sighed. Really the whole point of this was to just get Lucas to fall in line, but of course Sawyer couldn't be privy to that information. "Fine, winner's choice. They get to pick." She conceded.

"Winner gets anything they want?"

Peyton nodded confirming.

"Cool!"

"You know you do realize that the kitchen is on my side of the house, right?" Lucas decided to point out in hopes of trying to convince Peyton to stop what was clearly some ridiculous quest of hers to try to teach him a lesson. It really was a bit childish in his opinion. And yes, he fully acknowledged how absolutely ridiculous and not to mention hypocritical it was of him to call Peyton childish when he was going around flushing the toilet bowl while she had been showering.

"And the living room too." He added.

"Well I've got the bathroom." Peyton declared triumphantly.

Lucas' eyes widened. Shit, she was right. This has been her genius plan all along. But he wasn't gonna let Peyton win that easily. He could manage around not having access to the bathroom. He liked to believe that he was a very resourceful guy. "Not a problem. Guess I'll be peeing outside in the yard.

Peyton's nostrils flared up. "You wouldn't."

His eyes narrowed. "Oh I would."

Sawyer giggled. "Guess I'm peeing outside too." She joked.

"Sounds like Sawyer's on my team." Lucas proudly announced while playfully nudging his daughter on the side with his elbow.

Peyton's head quickly snapped over in her daughter's direction. "You will be doing no such thing Sawyer Anna Scott. You will be using the bathroom like a normal person."

"But MOM my room is on the same side as dad's." Sawyer quickly reminder her mother.

"Nope, not happening."

"You said I could play." Sawyer argued.

"How about you be Switzerland instead monkey?" Lucas offered.

"What does even that mean?" Sawyer huffed in annoyance.

"It means you're neutral. We need a judge. You know someone to make sure there isn't any funny business going on. You can keep your mom in line. We all know how she likes to cheat."

Sawyer chuckled. "I guess that could be fun." She replied warming up to the idea. And truthfully she actually didn't want to pee outside either.

Peyton scoffed. "So sounds like you're in then."

"Oh I'm in and I'm gonna win. So get ready to give me whatever I want blondie."

Peyton shook her head. "You're not gonna win, sorry to disappoint."

"You won't last a day." Lucas replied confidently.

"We'll see." Peyton shot back with equal confidence. "You know I think I'm gonna go take a LONG shower to get my morning started. Good luck sorting all that out though Luke." She added while sporting an innocent look.

"Oh don't worry." Lucas called out as Peyton started to walk away. "We have a hose out back don't we? I'll just use that."

Peyton stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes glaring back at Lucas.

"C'mon Sawyer, I'll make you some breakfast before school." Lucas announced as he put an arm around his daughter. "I'd offer you some Peyt, but you know my side and all that..." He shrugged. "Oh well, rules are rules. Right monkey?"

Sawyer nodded. "Right. Sorry mom, guess you'll have to eat out until this is over huh?"

"I'll be fine." Peyton muttered not at all enjoying how Lucas suddenly had the upper hand.

"Yea good luck with that." Lucas feigned concern. "C'mon squirt." He then began to lead Sawyer towards the kitchen while whistling joyfully.

Damn.

He really was better at this than her.

It didn't matter though. There was no way she was letting Lucas win this thing.

* * *

After dropping Sawyer off at school, Lucas had returned to the house. He didn't have to report to work until later in the afternoon so his plan had been to sneak in a shower during Peyton's absence. After all he was willing to resort to bathing outside only if he absolutely had to. Peyton didn't need to know that.

Unfortunately for Lucas those plans quickly fell apart. Peyton was still at the house when he returned. So he retreated to the living room instead to watch some tv, while he waited for Peyton to leave for work.

"What are you still doing here?" From her side of the house Peyton questioned loudly.

"I don't have work til later." Lucas answered from the couch, his eyes still glued to the tv. "You ready to give up yet?" He teased.

"Are you?" Peyton challenged.

"Not a chance in hell. Give it up Peyt. You're not gonna win this ridiculous game you've cooked up."

"You sure seem confident for someone who currently doesn't have the ability to even take a simple shit in his own house."

Lucas turned his head around finally giving Peyton his attention. She was already dressed for work with the exception of a white towel wrapped up over her head. "So you agree it's my house then? Which means I can organize the kitchen cabinets in any way I want without facing your wrath?"

"Shut up. You know what I meant." She grumbled. "Anyway, you need to scram. Now."

"Um excuse me, but I believe I'm on my side of the house. You don't get to tell me what to do." Lucas then proceeded to settle back into the couch, redirecting his vision towards the TV once more.

"My car still isn't running and Quinn's picking me up on her way to work today."

"So?"

"So get lost before she gets here you genius. I don't need her seeing your car in the driveway because I don't feel like being bombarded by a million questions as to why you're at my house this early in the morning. We had a deal remember? No one can know that you moved back home until I'm ready remember? Unless you wanna find another place to live Lucas."

Lucas released a rather exaggerated sigh. "Fine." He grumbled. "I'll be gone before she gets here." He promised.

"No. Scram. Now."

The screen in front of Lucas suddenly went dark. "What the hell?" He looked back at Peyton who was wiggling the remote control in her right hand. "Hey! I was watching that."

"Not my problem."

"And I was looking for that by the way." He pointed at the remote in her hand.

"Too bad." She spoke mockingly. "It's on my side of the tape, which means it's my remote now. So I guess TV time is officially over."

Lucas jumped up from the couch. "You have no idea what you just started."

"Game on loser. Now get going."

* * *

A few minutes after her most recent confrontation with Lucas – which she had totally won by the way - Peyton was back in her bathroom blow-drying her freshly washed locks. She was about half way done drying her curls when her dryer suddenly shut off.

"Crap." The blonde muttered as she played around with the hair dryer's on and off switch. It was brand-new. There was no way it could be on the fritz this quickly. After setting the dryer down, she then noticed that the light source above the bathroom sink was also out.

Peyton reached for the light switch, flicking it back and forth several times with no success. "What is going on?" She questioned out loud. Deciding to investigate further, she exited the bathroom and reached for the hallway light switch.

That also didn't seem to work.

"Son of bitch." The blonde exclaimed after testing out a few more light switches, indeed confirming her suspicions.

Her side of the house had no power.

The fucking circuit breaker.

It was on Lucas' side of the house. He must have cut the power to her side right before he left the house. And there was absolutely nothing Peyton could do about it. If she turned the power back on, he would know that she had crossed her side of the tape line.

"Damn he's good." Peyton blew out in defeat. Her successful win over Lucas only mere minutes before was completely short-lived.

* * *

This chapter was clearly inspired by episode 6x07 'Messin' With the Kid' - one of my absolutely favorite Leyton episodes.

I know it's been awhile (months) and can't say whether or not I'm back for good, but today I felt like writing. So we'll see how this goes. Thanks for reading.


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